THE
AMERICAN STRING PROJECT
THE
UNIQUE CONDUCTORLESS STRING ORCHESTRA
Barry
Lieberman & Maria Larionoff
Artistic
Directors
BELA
BARTÓK
String
Quartet No.1 in A minor, Op.7
FRANZ
SCHUBERT
String Quartet No. 14 in D minor,
D.810
"Death and the Maiden"
ARRANGED
FOR STRINGS BY BARRY LIEBERMAN
LIVE FROM
BENAROYA HALL, SEATTLE
MAY 2007
$14.95 ~
MS1269
"A
virtuoso in every chair"
"[In
the Schubert] the
execution of the The American String Project proves quite facile, the
homogeneity of sound and the seamless shifting of dynamic levels adjusted as
one, so the expanded nature of the orchestration retains its essential,
intimate nature...[In
the Bartok] Ani Kalayjian provides the pained cello line, with accompanying
kudos to violas Joseph Gottesman and David Harding...Even some aerial
transports into the major cannot quite alleviate the angst this superheated
live performance has managed to impart to us, and the aroused audience quite
agrees."
Audiophile
Audition ~ July 2008
"Judging
from what I heard on this disc, The American String Project 2007, Barry
Lieberman’s arrangements of Schubert’s Quartet No. 14, "Death and the
Maiden" and Bartok’s Quartet no. 1 in A Minor, are stunningly
conceived...Both the Schubert and the Bartok Quartets are notable for their
rich, orchestra-like sonorities, and these arrangements bring that aspect of the
music to the fore. So do the performances, which give credibility to the group’s
slogan, "a virtuoso in every chair." As often as I’ve heard
"Death and the Maiden," this version of Schubert’s masterwork really
gave me goose-bumps, from the unrelenting triplet figurations in the opening
Allegro to the hauntingly beautiful melody in the Andantino, and finally the
demonic finale that gallops by like a vision of ghostly death. The textural
clarity is beautiful here...listen for violinist Ani Kavafian’s eloquent solos
in both...The effect of this performance [of the Bartok] by the members of the
Project is nothing less than sensational."
Atlanta
Audio Society ~ March 2008
ON
LIVE 2006 [MS1226]: "...the best string orchestral playing
TC has heard in decades. Virtuosic not only in precision...but in expressive nuances."
- Turok's Choice ~ December 2007
*
* *
If
you are familiar with the solo and chamber music literature of the double bass,
well... you must be a double bassist. Only bassists or fans of the instrument
know the works of Dittersdorf, Dragonetti and Bottesini. Most music for the bass
was written by bass players themselves to give them something to play and to
help develop their own personal technique. There are no works for solo bass by
Mozart, Bach or Beethoven. It’s only slightly better in the realm of chamber
music, with some offerings by Beethoven, Rossini, Stravinsky and, most notably,
Schubert. The fact is that the best music written for the double bass is the
bass parts of orchestral works.
When
I began my tenure at the University of Washington and created the series
"Barry Lieberman and Friends," I started to explore the effects of
adding the bass to string quartets and quintets. While somewhat satisfying for
me, the overall performance was too heavily weighted in the bottom voices. I
realized that the only way to include the bass in the vast chamber literature
would be to multiply the number of players to balance the upper, middle and
lower voices. That balance, in terms of the Project, created an orchestra - from
the bottom up - comprising one bass, two cellos, three violas, four second
violins and five first violins.
A
chance meeting at my local off-leash dog park with the man who would become our
first board president (Dr. Alan Morgan) was the impetus for making the Project a
reality. As we walked with our dogs, I sketched the idea of a unique "conductorless"
string orchestra made up of many of my friends from all over the world, each one
a great performer. We would bring them to Seattle for one week and perform great
chamber works in the newly built Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall in Benaroya
Hall.
Thinking
that this was just pleasant talk about an impossible dream, I was amazed to
receive an email from Alan late that evening, complete with a detailed budget
for my crazy idea. We gathered our Seattle friends, proposed the idea of the
Project, and asked for volunteers to create the board. Everyone there agreed to
participate and the Project was born. Our first meeting was held on September
11, 2001 - a momentous day for everyone in the world.
Next
was my great joy in inviting players to come and choosing the repertoire for our
first season. That season’s concerts, in May 2002, featured works by
Shostakovich, Ravel, Haydn, Mendelssohn and others - nine works in all - and
prepared in one week. Our players included concertmasters from several major
orchestras, professors, and professional chamber musicians, and reviews were
universally exceptional. Since that first season, the Project has performed more
than 60 string quartet and quintet arrangements.
When
trying to describe the Project to someone, our dilemma is whether to talk about
it as a chamber music ensemble or an orchestra because it is both, and neither.
One thing about which all who perform with the Project agree: it is the most fun
a musician can have. We are never quite sure what the best part is— the music,
the other musicians, the city, or just the joy of playing. My favorite
observation about the Project is from Gramophone magazine: "While in action
the players must have been in string quartet heaven."
