BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Jan 23: The Wallis presents “The Shangai Quartet” at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on January 23rd, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo courtesy Kevin Parry.
It’s safe to say that souls were stirred Saturday night at the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
As part of the “Winter @ The Wallis” classical concert series which began earlier in January, the Shanghai Quartet, one of the world’s foremost chamber music ensembles, performed a repertoire of early and late Beethoven string quartets.
The aim of the program, dubbed East/West: Merging Music & Cultures, was to enable the audience to experience the evolution of the artistry of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who died in 1827 yet remains one of the most influential figures in classical music nearly two centuries later.
The packed house was indeed spellbound as the Quartet performed String Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3, followed by string Quartet in F minor, Op.95 (Serioso).
After the intermission, the two violinists (Weigang Li, Yi-Wen Jiang) a viola, (Honggang Li) and a cellist (Nicholas Tzavaras) performed Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op.132.
There are six more concerts in the series in February and March, with further information available at TheWallis.org/Winter.
Prior to the concerts, guests can also have the opportunity to participate in a pre-performance conversation and wine tasting with the artists.
