October 01, 2004 -

Ottawa, Canada -- The National Arts Centre’s Music for a Sunday Afternoon series begins on Sunday, October 10 at 14:00 in the Auditorium of the National Gallery of Canada, featuring Pinchas Zukerman on violin together with the four NAC Orchestra musicians who this summer toured as the Zukerman ChamberPlayers: violinist Jessica Linnebach; associate principal viola Jethro Marks; principal second violin Donnie Deacon (on viola); and principal cello Amanda Forsyth.  The quintet performs some of the works that earned them kudos on this summer’s tour of North American and European chamber music festivals: Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major and Dvorák’s String Quintet in D-flat major known as the “American” quintet.

The programme opens with Frank Bridge’s 1912 Lament forTwo Violas performed by Jethro Marks and Donnie Deacon, a work of haunting and elegant wistfulness.

The audience will then hear the original version of NAC Award Composer Alexina Louie’s Bringing the Tiger Down From the Mountain for cello and piano played by Amanda Forsyth and pianist Jean Desmarais. A new version of Tiger for cello and orchestra is being premiered by the NAC Orchestra on October 7 and 8 and will subsequently be heard in November during the Orchestra’s British Columbia Tour. The cellist’s skill is put to the test in this piece which includes an unaccompanied cadenza of double-stop and harmonic glissandi.

The Mendelssohn Quintet opens with the composer’s usual energy and elan; features a gentle and playful second movement; a third movement of almost symphonic proportions and an exuberantly virtuosic finale. On this summer’s tour the Amsterdam critic said of the quintet’s Concertgebouw concert: “Intonation, balance, ensemble playing were flawless… A very elegant encore was a light-hearted lecture of the 2nd movement of the 2nd Mendelssohn quintet.”

Dvorák composed his string quintet on vacation in the tiny Bohemian community of Spillville, Iowa. The location as well as the indigenous rhythms he incorporated earned it its nickname, “American”. The Denver Post said of the Zukerman ChamberPlayers’ performance at the Aspen Chamber Music Festival: “There was not an awkward gap in talent between the group's namesake and the other musicians. The four all more than held their own, especially violist Jethro Marks, who shone in his passionate solo in the second movement of Antonin Dvorak's String Quintet.”

This Music for a Sunday Afternoon chamber concert takes place on Sunday, October 10 at 14:00 and is presented in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada. Tickets at $27.00 (GST and facility fee included) are on sale now at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca. Student tickets at $14.25 are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card. Music for a Sunday Afternoon tickets may also be purchased one hour before the concert outside the Auditorium of the National Gallery.

For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca