CAN’T MISS CONCERT
The Hagen Quartet

Here we are, three days before the Hagen Quartet returns to the Kimmel Center (this Friday night, November 8^th), and I must urge those of you without tickets to double and triple check your calendars. If you are free, I must insist–something I very rarely do–that you join PCMS for the Austrian ensemble's all-Beethoven concert.

Over the past 30 years, the Hagen has forged a reputation as one of the world’s most brilliant quartets. Yet, remarkably, they have never done the complete cycle of all 16 Beethoven string quartets (which they are doing in NYC over the next ten days). Even Franz Schubert said after hearing the late Beethoven masterpieces, "After this, what is left for us to write?”

I love that quote as much as this next one by David Wright of BostonClassicalReview.com (after the ensemble’s last US tour): “The Hagens playing with fierce concentration, achieved a rare combination of matched and blended tone with transparent, persuasive voicing.  Their sound was not big and room-filling but seductive, enticing the listener to lean closer and savor every detail of the music.”

I am fully aware that PCMS presents over a dozen string quartets every season, each vying for your attention. While we feel all of them are worthy of your attendance, it can certainly be a challenge to catch every one. That's why I must emphasize how special this opportunity is, to hear the legendary Hagen performing all-Beethoven for ONLY $24.  If you are thinking to yourselves, “Oh, I can just catch them at another venue on the east coast,” well, you can, but for much more money.

To recap, we have sensational musicians performing incredible music for half the price of other US series, and to top it all off, you can see them in the intimate Perelman Theater. To miss this concert would be a mistake (in my humble opinion).

I am confident that if you join PCMS on Friday night, you just might find yourself with a new favorite string quartet. Not only will you thoroughly enjoy the evening, but you may even go home and find yourself turning on your computer, visiting the 92^nd Y’s website, and then travelling up to New York to see an additional Hagen concert.

The Hagen Quartet presents an all-Beethoven program on Friday, November 8, 2013 at 8 pm at the Perelman Theater. For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215-569-8080.