In a captivating interview for KGNU, violist Richard O’Neill, cellist András Fejér of the renowned Takács Quartet, and celebrated pianist Marc-André Hamelin discuss their collaboration on the new Dvořák and Price Piano Quintets album, released on the Hyperion label. The ensemble reflects on the meaningful pairing of Dvořák’s beloved Piano Quintet No. 2 with Florence Price’s rediscovered Piano Quintet in A minor, noting shared influences from African-American musical traditions. They describe the challenges of interpreting Price’s little-performed work, especially in addressing notational inconsistencies. Recorded in the resonant and secluded Wyastone Concert Hall near the Welsh border, the project highlights their deep artistic rapport, technical precision, and the unique intimacy of chamber music. As the Takács Quartet celebrates its 50th anniversary, the musicians express gratitude for their evolving legacy, their connection to the Boulder community, and the enduring joy of making music with trusted collaborators.
Sanford Baran: Today, we have the distinct pleasure of welcoming three remarkable musicians who have collaborated on one of this year’s most anticipated classical releases. Joining me are violist Richard O’Neill and cellist András Fejér from the legendary Takács Quartet, along with the brilliant Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin. Together with their colleagues, they’ve just released the album ‘Dvorak and Price Piano Quintets’ on the Hyperion label. The album brings together Dvorak’s beloved ‘Piano Quintet No. 2’ with Florence Price’s recently rediscovered ‘Piano Quintet in A minor’. Takács, now celebrating its remarkable 50th anniversary, has long been recognized as one of the world’s great chamber ensembles. Based here in Boulder at the University of Colorado, they continue their tradition of musical excellence while championing both canonical masterpieces and overlooked works deserving wider recognition. And Marc-André, with his extraordinary virtuosity and musical intelligence, make him the perfect collaborator for this project, pairing two composers with fascinating connections to American musical identity. Anyway, welcome to you all.
All: Good morning.
Sanford Baran: So this album pairs Dvorak’s well-known Piano Quintet with Florence Price’s much less familiar work. What inspired this particular pairing, and what connections do you see between these two compositions?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, the idea came from the quartet, actually. I was only eager to accept if only because our collaborations in the past have been so wonderful, so fruitful, and among the very best chamber music experiences or musical experiences I’ve ever had. I would do anything with them, really, even if it was the phone book. There is a relationship between the two pieces, if only because of Dvorak’s fascination with African-American folk material, which Florence Price, of course, adopted fully and embraced fully. And I think that is the main relationship between those two pieces. They complement each other really pretty well, I think, I have to say.
András Fejér: Also Ed’s (Edward Dusinberre – Takács first violinist) wonderful book, Distant Melodies, he did impressive amount of research, obviously, and then discovered that Dvorak not only was a major personality in New York’s newly established music school, but that his sponsor lady gave serious amounts for composition departments specifically dealing with Native American roots and how these themes could be incorporated into future compositions.
Sanford Baran: From my understanding, Florence Price’s piano quintet was composed in the 30s, but only discovered or rediscovered in 2009 among manuscripts in her abandoned summer home, which is kind of a miracle. What was the process of bringing this work to recording, and what challenges did you face in interpreting a piece with so little performance history?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, when you have so little tradition to draw upon, it is of course a challenge, and you have to make a lot of decisions that otherwise you wouldn’t necessarily have to make. And the problem in this particular case was complicated by the fact that the score had a number of puzzling elements, I want to say mistakes, and in some instances, there were mistakes. And unfortunately, the published edition, which was done very recently, did not always attempt to solve these mysteries or these problems. And we found ourselves adopting solutions every once in a while. In the first movement, for example, there is what we strongly believe is a copying mistake, which resulted in cacophony for a bar, for just one bar and between the instruments. So we had to resolve to a rather drastic change at that particular spot. And also in the fourth movement, we ended up actually taking out a bar, a bar that was repeating material. We thought the basic scansion was sort of broken. So that particular part flows a lot better now.
Sanford Baran: I understand the recording was made at the Wyestone Concert Hall in Mountmouth, Wales. Could you talk about the recording process and how you approached capturing the distinct sound worlds of these two composers?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, you of the quartet have done most of your recent recordings there, if not all of them, right? This is an acoustic that you particularly favor, no?
Richard O’Neill: Yes, I think the quartet had done several recordings with you before I joined, right before I joined. It’s a very interesting venue because it’s basically like a full-sized concert hall. It’s a very generous acoustic. It’s very, we would call it wet, but it’s very, very resonant. For recordings, that’s a very nice thing. It has a very great room sound in the sense that it has a lot of body to the sound and a lot of depth and complexity. We really couldn’t say anything about recordings unless we mentioned our amazing engineer producer, Andrew Keener, who is a legend and is just a master of his craft. He really understands not only how to capture sound, but how to deal with artists and our idiosyncrasies, let’s put it that way. And Andrew creates such a wonderful atmosphere. It’s really difficult sometimes making a recording and it’s sort of like taking a photo of, a musical photo, an audio photo of the day. We are always evolving. We’re always changing as artists and to make a recording that’s something that’s going to last forever, for whatever that means, it’s tricky to capture that magic of how that sort of, I don’t want to call it zeitgeist, but the sort of feeling of the room, the feeling of the piece, feeling of the musicians. How do you capture that when you take away the visual, you just have the pure sound. And I think Andrew has that ability to capturing the lightning in the bottle by understanding our temperaments, our needs, our feelings, how we all feel together and putting that all together into the recording. The venue itself is in, I believe it’s almost in Wales. I don’t know. Is it in Wales proper?
Marc-André Hamelin: It’s on the Welsh border.
Richard O’Neill: It’s on the border and it’s very bucolic. You go down a very long dirt road along this sort of like Boulder, like along a beautiful river, the River Wye.
Marc-André Hamelin: It’s very secluded.
Richard O’Neill: Very secluded. You know, classical recordings are all Mono booth. It’s one set of mics. Everyone’s in the same room. We don’t record like pop music where you have Iso booths and you can layer. So it’s very, very important that the venue itself has quiet because otherwise you’re going to have a lot of problems. Not only does Wyesstone have the quiet, but it also has just the sense we go back to the inn after, you know, a full day’s session and we can have a very nice pub meal of mushy peas and some fried stuff. So i t’s really, I’m sorry I’m rambling, but it’s, I think it’s considering Marc-Andre’s recorded so much and András has recorded in many places. I really feel like an idyllic, it’s like a little time capsule. We can go away and we can escape from the real world and really immerse ourselves in the recording world.
Marc-André Hamelin: Yeah, this whole complex really belongs to the Nimbus recording label. They’re the ones who built it, put it together. I have a slightly more mixed feelings about the venue. For chamber music, it’s great. I mean, I wouldn’t work anywhere else, it’s really quite ideal. For solo piano recordings it’s more problematic as far as I’m concerned. I had kind of a bad start because the first CD I did, first solo CD I did in that venue was of my own set of Etudes, which are really quite busy. And acoustically, it was too confusing for that kind of music. So recordings I did after that, solo recordings, I did a Schubert CD and also a Morton Feldman CD, which is the epitome of, it’s one piece called Forbidden Marcus, and it’s 72 minutes and triple piano sempre. So for that, the venue was ideal and also for Schubert because it’s much, much less busy and it’s reflective and wonderful. But I would be very careful about recording anything else of solo piano. It fits, some other people love it, that’s great. But I have problems with busier music in there.
Sanford Baran: As chamber musicians, how do you approach the balance between piano and strings? Listening to the recording, it just sounds terrific. I mean, you can just hear all of the parts just perfectly.
Marc-André Hamelin: I was told early on that apparently the balance between piano and string quartet is one of the more difficult ones to achieve. But, you know, as far as the recording is concerned, I mean, it seems like they really had licked the problem, you know, they probably licked years and years and years ago. And I haven’t really noticed anything amiss. And I think the quartet would agree with me.
Richard O’Neill: You know, the clarity versus resonance balance, that’s the question, right? For all of us, you know, when we get in a space, whether it be remembering it or recording it or we’re playing for people in the room. And I think that’s always very interesting. You know, the recording process is, you know, you lay everything down, the engineer does his magic, sort of remembers what the best of the sessions were and makes the first edit. And when I when we got the first edit, it’s always, I guess it’s sort of detachment hearing, hearing something that you’ve been so involved with from the inside and all of a sudden hearing it from the outside. And one thing that I think what I was struck by is, you know, when I’m in the quartet, when I’m sitting in the group, and I hear, of course, András’ profound sound and bass, and Marc-André’s beautiful sound, when I am able, from the recording, to hear everything from maybe bird’s eye view of it, you know, a little bit of detachment. The utter beauty of Marc-André’s playing, just everything is just so, I don’t… control is the wrong word, but like everything is just so beautiful, just incredibly beautiful. And it’s fun to actually, after this sort of arduous process of trying to get things down, to hear things and then to get to appreciate them from an external point of view, from a listener’s point of view.
András Fejér: We also need to make some adjustments how we feel when we listen back to the master tape after half a year, because everybody changed in the meantime. Your style might have changed, your taste might have changed, you just have to remind yourself that half a year ago, this is what we loved, this is how we agreed on things. And just make comments, if any comments, if you really feel serious about any changes to be made. But once you realize that from a distance of half a year, things are different, then it’s a most enjoyable happening.
Marc-André Hamelin: Yeah, I appreciate the fact that we don’t get to hear the finished product for quite a few months, as András just said. And I think it helps us getting a fresher perspective. And what I consider very important is I always try to listen to it from the listener’s point, the eventual listener’s point of view, and not from my own. Yes, I hear all the little bugs that still weren’t quite right on my part, you know, but will they be important to the listener? And usually I conclude that the answer is no.
Sanford Baran: It wasn’t to me. I’d say the blend and just the level of artistry was an absolute success. In view of Takács’s 50th anniversary, and great that I have András here, as you’re one of the founding members, I just was wondering, how has the ensemble’s approach to chamber music evolved over these 50 years? And how does that history inform your interpretation, well, of these works, or the works that you’re playing right now?
András Fejér: Well, I’m singularly unable to be objective on the subject, since I’m within the system. I cannot, I cannot judge on various aspects of our workings in our first decade, or third decade, or right now. All we know is we try to dig deep down, and then prove our points, either by gut feelings, or, or learning different delicacies slash facts about the composer’s situation at that very point, and then trying to make honest and such decisions which which would stand the test of time. It’s always fascinating. It’s changing during the years, during the decades, but that makes it fascinating, because year after year, we bring new arguments to support certain points. And that’s what makes it so alive.
Sanford Baran: And it seems like with Takács, the repertoire is just expanding. Lots of alive today composers that you’re collaborating with.
András Fejér: We are lucky that we can stand on the shoulders of Harumi (Harumi Rhodes – Takács second violinist) and Richard with their extensive past lives with contemporary composers, and actually knowing most of them. We trust their instincts, their gut feelings, and those whom we love the most, we ask for to compose new, new pieces for us. Preferably, they listen to our style, and then they might try to incorporate certain elements of our playing which would work for their new piece.
Sanford Baran: Yeah, and Richard, as a more recent member of the quartet, what’s it like joining an ensemble with such a rich history? How do you balance honoring the Takács tradition, if there is a tradition, while bringing your own musical perspective?
Richard O’Neill: That’s a very good question, and something I think about almost every morning when I am headed into rehearsal. You know, my journey with the quartet started a long time ago as a listener in my teens, and appreciating very much their commitment to this vitality, to find the truth in whatever they play, and to make things living. But also, being very much on the inside now, there’s a humanity to the quartet on many different levels. Of course, internally, every member, every member’s family, and the community in which we live, and the way people have opened themselves to me, that makes me understand why the quartet has been so entrenched in this community here in Boulder. You know, for a quartet to exist really takes a lot. It really, it’s not just the four members, it’s a lot of things that go into that. And I feel like this community, and all the love that the community gives us, has really shown me things. When I first showed up here during the heights of COVID, and I had basically a car full of belongings, that was it, literally. And I was living with Ed and Harumi, because I couldn’t find anything to rent, because there was nothing to rent. András brought me eight cartons full of music that Jerry Walter had very graciously organized. And I spent so much of that time, you know, during COVID, because I didn’t socialize or anything. I was just here by myself, you know, just sort of like going through all of these stacks and stacks of parts from all these people, some of the people that are no longer with us. And it’s interesting, the archaeology, the markings in there, and all that humanity, and these scribbles. I can’t tell you how meaningful that was, and how educational it was. All those decades of blood, sweat, and tears, and all that history, and all that humanity, ended up in these parts. And I kind of got a glimpse digging around in all those parts. It really taught me a lot of things. And then, of course, to be next to somebody, just a living embodiment of what it means to be a true musician, and dedicate one’s life to something that they believe in. He just welcomes every, he never argues, like, we did it this way 40 years, and we can’t do it, you know, he never does that. I promise, he never, ever says that. He’s the most open-minded colleague, and magical, and funny. And we’re lucky that we live on the shoulders of those that came before us. And it’s really, it’s the honor of a lifetime being in the quartet.
Sanford Baran: Yeah, Marc-André, so just one last question here. I know that you and Takács have recorded many times, have a history, but still, you have this cohesive quartet, and now you’ve got the fifth wheel coming in. What’s that like? Obviously, you have such respect, and already have a rapport, but still, what’s that like, coming together for something like this?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, it’s finding old friends again, and the joy of making music with old friends. I mean, it sounds platitudinous, but it’s the absolute truth. As you go along in your career, I think the instinct is just to stay with people that you’re going to trust musically, and you have joy making music with. And that’s all what it’s about. I should perhaps insert an anecdote at this point, which will tell you a lot. When we recorded the Shostakovich Piano Quintet, this is, I don’t know, maybe 10 years ago or something. The morning, somehow, my back started to lock. My lower back was completely spasmed. And pretty soon, I could almost not move a muscle or move in any kind of way without being hysterically in pain. And the recording was going to start that afternoon. I did have some pretty powerful pain medicine, I just happened to have some. And we decided to start the recording, start recording anyway. The nice thing with the Shostakovich Piano Quintet is that, aside from the scherzo, it has five movements. It’s not very pianistically difficult. So it didn’t tax me as much as other repertoire might have. But the way the hall is set up over there, the recording venue, it is a concert hall, very, very high ceiling. And the stage is three small steps above the ground floor. So when I was sitting, of course, performing, I was all right. But every time we had to listen to a take, we had to go to the control room. And I couldn’t possibly have walked there by myself at that point. So Ed and András were kind enough to… Well, first of all, in the control room, there was one of those office chairs with five wheels, you know. And so they brought the chair, you know, and they took me, each side of me, and then just hoisted me onto the chair and rolled me up to the control room so we could listen to takes. So I can’t tell you how many times that happened, but they were so extraordinarily helpful and understanding. It’s a dominating memory from that recording session, you know, aside from the musical result, of course.
Sanford Baran: Anyway, we’ve been speaking with Richard O’Neill and András Fejér and Marc-André Hamelin. Thank you for being with us, and congratulations on the release of this album, ‘Dvořák and Price Piano Quintets’ on the Hyperion label. Thank you so much.
All: Many thanks. Thank you. Thank you.
Sanford Baran: This is Sanford Baran for KGNU.
Sanford Baran: Today, we have the distinct pleasure of welcoming three remarkable musicians who have collaborated on one of this year’s most anticipated classical releases. Joining me are violist Richard O’Neill and cellist András Fejér from the legendary Takács Quartet, along with the brilliant Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin. Together with their colleagues, they’ve just released the album ‘Dvorak and Price Piano Quintets’ on the Hyperion label. The album brings together Dvorak’s beloved ‘Piano Quintet No. 2’ with Florence Price’s recently rediscovered ‘Piano Quintet in A minor’. Takács, now celebrating its remarkable 50th anniversary, has long been recognized as one of the world’s great chamber ensembles. Based here in Boulder at the University of Colorado, they continue their tradition of musical excellence while championing both canonical masterpieces and overlooked works deserving wider recognition. And Marc-André, with his extraordinary virtuosity and musical intelligence, make him the perfect collaborator for this project, pairing two composers with fascinating connections to American musical identity. Anyway, welcome to you all.
All: Good morning.
Sanford Baran: So this album pairs Dvorak’s well-known Piano Quintet with Florence Price’s much less familiar work. What inspired this particular pairing, and what connections do you see between these two compositions?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, the idea came from the quartet, actually. I was only eager to accept if only because our collaborations in the past have been so wonderful, so fruitful, and among the very best chamber music experiences or musical experiences I’ve ever had. I would do anything with them, really, even if it was the phone book. There is a relationship between the two pieces, if only because of Dvorak’s fascination with African-American folk material, which Florence Price, of course, adopted fully and embraced fully. And I think that is the main relationship between those two pieces. They complement each other really pretty well, I think, I have to say.
András Fejér: Also Ed’s (Edward Dusinberre – Takács first violinist) wonderful book, Distant Melodies, he did impressive amount of research, obviously, and then discovered that Dvorak not only was a major personality in New York’s newly established music school, but that his sponsor lady gave serious amounts for composition departments specifically dealing with Native American roots and how these themes could be incorporated into future compositions.
Sanford Baran: From my understanding, Florence Price’s piano quintet was composed in the 30s, but only discovered or rediscovered in 2009 among manuscripts in her abandoned summer home, which is kind of a miracle. What was the process of bringing this work to recording, and what challenges did you face in interpreting a piece with so little performance history?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, when you have so little tradition to draw upon, it is of course a challenge, and you have to make a lot of decisions that otherwise you wouldn’t necessarily have to make. And the problem in this particular case was complicated by the fact that the score had a number of puzzling elements, I want to say mistakes, and in some instances, there were mistakes. And unfortunately, the published edition, which was done very recently, did not always attempt to solve these mysteries or these problems. And we found ourselves adopting solutions every once in a while. In the first movement, for example, there is what we strongly believe is a copying mistake, which resulted in cacophony for a bar, for just one bar and between the instruments. So we had to resolve to a rather drastic change at that particular spot. And also in the fourth movement, we ended up actually taking out a bar, a bar that was repeating material. We thought the basic scansion was sort of broken. So that particular part flows a lot better now.
Sanford Baran: I understand the recording was made at the Wyestone Concert Hall in Mountmouth, Wales. Could you talk about the recording process and how you approached capturing the distinct sound worlds of these two composers?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, you of the quartet have done most of your recent recordings there, if not all of them, right? This is an acoustic that you particularly favor, no?
Richard O’Neill: Yes, I think the quartet had done several recordings with you before I joined, right before I joined. It’s a very interesting venue because it’s basically like a full-sized concert hall. It’s a very generous acoustic. It’s very, we would call it wet, but it’s very, very resonant. For recordings, that’s a very nice thing. It has a very great room sound in the sense that it has a lot of body to the sound and a lot of depth and complexity. We really couldn’t say anything about recordings unless we mentioned our amazing engineer producer, Andrew Keener, who is a legend and is just a master of his craft. He really understands not only how to capture sound, but how to deal with artists and our idiosyncrasies, let’s put it that way. And Andrew creates such a wonderful atmosphere. It’s really difficult sometimes making a recording and it’s sort of like taking a photo of, a musical photo, an audio photo of the day. We are always evolving. We’re always changing as artists and to make a recording that’s something that’s going to last forever, for whatever that means, it’s tricky to capture that magic of how that sort of, I don’t want to call it zeitgeist, but the sort of feeling of the room, the feeling of the piece, feeling of the musicians. How do you capture that when you take away the visual, you just have the pure sound. And I think Andrew has that ability to capturing the lightning in the bottle by understanding our temperaments, our needs, our feelings, how we all feel together and putting that all together into the recording. The venue itself is in, I believe it’s almost in Wales. I don’t know. Is it in Wales proper?
Marc-André Hamelin: It’s on the Welsh border.
Richard O’Neill: It’s on the border and it’s very bucolic. You go down a very long dirt road along this sort of like Boulder, like along a beautiful river, the River Wye.
Marc-André Hamelin: It’s very secluded.
Richard O’Neill: Very secluded. You know, classical recordings are all Mono booth. It’s one set of mics. Everyone’s in the same room. We don’t record like pop music where you have Iso booths and you can layer. So it’s very, very important that the venue itself has quiet because otherwise you’re going to have a lot of problems. Not only does Wyesstone have the quiet, but it also has just the sense we go back to the inn after, you know, a full day’s session and we can have a very nice pub meal of mushy peas and some fried stuff. So i t’s really, I’m sorry I’m rambling, but it’s, I think it’s considering Marc-Andre’s recorded so much and András has recorded in many places. I really feel like an idyllic, it’s like a little time capsule. We can go away and we can escape from the real world and really immerse ourselves in the recording world.
Marc-André Hamelin: Yeah, this whole complex really belongs to the Nimbus recording label. They’re the ones who built it, put it together. I have a slightly more mixed feelings about the venue. For chamber music, it’s great. I mean, I wouldn’t work anywhere else, it’s really quite ideal. For solo piano recordings it’s more problematic as far as I’m concerned. I had kind of a bad start because the first CD I did, first solo CD I did in that venue was of my own set of Etudes, which are really quite busy. And acoustically, it was too confusing for that kind of music. So recordings I did after that, solo recordings, I did a Schubert CD and also a Morton Feldman CD, which is the epitome of, it’s one piece called Forbidden Marcus, and it’s 72 minutes and triple piano sempre. So for that, the venue was ideal and also for Schubert because it’s much, much less busy and it’s reflective and wonderful. But I would be very careful about recording anything else of solo piano. It fits, some other people love it, that’s great. But I have problems with busier music in there.
Sanford Baran: As chamber musicians, how do you approach the balance between piano and strings? Listening to the recording, it just sounds terrific. I mean, you can just hear all of the parts just perfectly.
Marc-André Hamelin: I was told early on that apparently the balance between piano and string quartet is one of the more difficult ones to achieve. But, you know, as far as the recording is concerned, I mean, it seems like they really had licked the problem, you know, they probably licked years and years and years ago. And I haven’t really noticed anything amiss. And I think the quartet would agree with me.
Richard O’Neill: You know, the clarity versus resonance balance, that’s the question, right? For all of us, you know, when we get in a space, whether it be remembering it or recording it or we’re playing for people in the room. And I think that’s always very interesting. You know, the recording process is, you know, you lay everything down, the engineer does his magic, sort of remembers what the best of the sessions were and makes the first edit. And when I when we got the first edit, it’s always, I guess it’s sort of detachment hearing, hearing something that you’ve been so involved with from the inside and all of a sudden hearing it from the outside. And one thing that I think what I was struck by is, you know, when I’m in the quartet, when I’m sitting in the group, and I hear, of course, András’ profound sound and bass, and Marc-André’s beautiful sound, when I am able, from the recording, to hear everything from maybe bird’s eye view of it, you know, a little bit of detachment. The utter beauty of Marc-André’s playing, just everything is just so, I don’t… control is the wrong word, but like everything is just so beautiful, just incredibly beautiful. And it’s fun to actually, after this sort of arduous process of trying to get things down, to hear things and then to get to appreciate them from an external point of view, from a listener’s point of view.
András Fejér: We also need to make some adjustments how we feel when we listen back to the master tape after half a year, because everybody changed in the meantime. Your style might have changed, your taste might have changed, you just have to remind yourself that half a year ago, this is what we loved, this is how we agreed on things. And just make comments, if any comments, if you really feel serious about any changes to be made. But once you realize that from a distance of half a year, things are different, then it’s a most enjoyable happening.
Marc-André Hamelin: Yeah, I appreciate the fact that we don’t get to hear the finished product for quite a few months, as András just said. And I think it helps us getting a fresher perspective. And what I consider very important is I always try to listen to it from the listener’s point, the eventual listener’s point of view, and not from my own. Yes, I hear all the little bugs that still weren’t quite right on my part, you know, but will they be important to the listener? And usually I conclude that the answer is no.
Sanford Baran: It wasn’t to me. I’d say the blend and just the level of artistry was an absolute success. In view of Takács’s 50th anniversary, and great that I have András here, as you’re one of the founding members, I just was wondering, how has the ensemble’s approach to chamber music evolved over these 50 years? And how does that history inform your interpretation, well, of these works, or the works that you’re playing right now?
András Fejér: Well, I’m singularly unable to be objective on the subject, since I’m within the system. I cannot, I cannot judge on various aspects of our workings in our first decade, or third decade, or right now. All we know is we try to dig deep down, and then prove our points, either by gut feelings, or, or learning different delicacies slash facts about the composer’s situation at that very point, and then trying to make honest and such decisions which which would stand the test of time. It’s always fascinating. It’s changing during the years, during the decades, but that makes it fascinating, because year after year, we bring new arguments to support certain points. And that’s what makes it so alive.
Sanford Baran: And it seems like with Takács, the repertoire is just expanding. Lots of alive today composers that you’re collaborating with.
András Fejér: We are lucky that we can stand on the shoulders of Harumi (Harumi Rhodes – Takács second violinist) and Richard with their extensive past lives with contemporary composers, and actually knowing most of them. We trust their instincts, their gut feelings, and those whom we love the most, we ask for to compose new, new pieces for us. Preferably, they listen to our style, and then they might try to incorporate certain elements of our playing which would work for their new piece.
Sanford Baran: Yeah, and Richard, as a more recent member of the quartet, what’s it like joining an ensemble with such a rich history? How do you balance honoring the Takács tradition, if there is a tradition, while bringing your own musical perspective?
Richard O’Neill: That’s a very good question, and something I think about almost every morning when I am headed into rehearsal. You know, my journey with the quartet started a long time ago as a listener in my teens, and appreciating very much their commitment to this vitality, to find the truth in whatever they play, and to make things living. But also, being very much on the inside now, there’s a humanity to the quartet on many different levels. Of course, internally, every member, every member’s family, and the community in which we live, and the way people have opened themselves to me, that makes me understand why the quartet has been so entrenched in this community here in Boulder. You know, for a quartet to exist really takes a lot. It really, it’s not just the four members, it’s a lot of things that go into that. And I feel like this community, and all the love that the community gives us, has really shown me things. When I first showed up here during the heights of COVID, and I had basically a car full of belongings, that was it, literally. And I was living with Ed and Harumi, because I couldn’t find anything to rent, because there was nothing to rent. András brought me eight cartons full of music that Jerry Walter had very graciously organized. And I spent so much of that time, you know, during COVID, because I didn’t socialize or anything. I was just here by myself, you know, just sort of like going through all of these stacks and stacks of parts from all these people, some of the people that are no longer with us. And it’s interesting, the archaeology, the markings in there, and all that humanity, and these scribbles. I can’t tell you how meaningful that was, and how educational it was. All those decades of blood, sweat, and tears, and all that history, and all that humanity, ended up in these parts. And I kind of got a glimpse digging around in all those parts. It really taught me a lot of things. And then, of course, to be next to somebody, just a living embodiment of what it means to be a true musician, and dedicate one’s life to something that they believe in. He just welcomes every, he never argues, like, we did it this way 40 years, and we can’t do it, you know, he never does that. I promise, he never, ever says that. He’s the most open-minded colleague, and magical, and funny. And we’re lucky that we live on the shoulders of those that came before us. And it’s really, it’s the honor of a lifetime being in the quartet.
Sanford Baran: Yeah, Marc-André, so just one last question here. I know that you and Takács have recorded many times, have a history, but still, you have this cohesive quartet, and now you’ve got the fifth wheel coming in. What’s that like? Obviously, you have such respect, and already have a rapport, but still, what’s that like, coming together for something like this?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, it’s finding old friends again, and the joy of making music with old friends. I mean, it sounds platitudinous, but it’s the absolute truth. As you go along in your career, I think the instinct is just to stay with people that you’re going to trust musically, and you have joy making music with. And that’s all what it’s about. I should perhaps insert an anecdote at this point, which will tell you a lot. When we recorded the Shostakovich Piano Quintet, this is, I don’t know, maybe 10 years ago or something. The morning, somehow, my back started to lock. My lower back was completely spasmed. And pretty soon, I could almost not move a muscle or move in any kind of way without being hysterically in pain. And the recording was going to start that afternoon. I did have some pretty powerful pain medicine, I just happened to have some. And we decided to start the recording, start recording anyway. The nice thing with the Shostakovich Piano Quintet is that, aside from the scherzo, it has five movements. It’s not very pianistically difficult. So it didn’t tax me as much as other repertoire might have. But the way the hall is set up over there, the recording venue, it is a concert hall, very, very high ceiling. And the stage is three small steps above the ground floor. So when I was sitting, of course, performing, I was all right. But every time we had to listen to a take, we had to go to the control room. And I couldn’t possibly have walked there by myself at that point. So Ed and András were kind enough to… Well, first of all, in the control room, there was one of those office chairs with five wheels, you know. And so they brought the chair, you know, and they took me, each side of me, and then just hoisted me onto the chair and rolled me up to the control room so we could listen to takes. So I can’t tell you how many times that happened, but they were so extraordinarily helpful and understanding. It’s a dominating memory from that recording session, you know, aside from the musical result, of course.
Sanford Baran: Anyway, we’ve been speaking with Richard O’Neill and András Fejér and Marc-André Hamelin. Thank you for being with us, and congratulations on the release of this album, ‘Dvořák and Price Piano Quintets’ on the Hyperion label. Thank you so much.
All: Many thanks. Thank you. Thank you.
Sanford Baran: This is Sanford Baran for KGNU.
Sanford Baran: Today, we have the distinct pleasure of welcoming three remarkable musicians who have collaborated on one of this year’s most anticipated classical releases. Joining me are violist Richard O’Neill and cellist András Fejér from the legendary Takács Quartet, along with the brilliant Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin. Together with their colleagues, they’ve just released the album ‘Dvorak and Price Piano Quintets’ on the Hyperion label. The album brings together Dvorak’s beloved ‘Piano Quintet No. 2’ with Florence Price’s recently rediscovered ‘Piano Quintet in A minor’. Takács, now celebrating its remarkable 50th anniversary, has long been recognized as one of the world’s great chamber ensembles. Based here in Boulder at the University of Colorado, they continue their tradition of musical excellence while championing both canonical masterpieces and overlooked works deserving wider recognition. And Marc-André, with his extraordinary virtuosity and musical intelligence, make him the perfect collaborator for this project, pairing two composers with fascinating connections to American musical identity. Anyway, welcome to you all.
All: Good morning.
Sanford Baran: So this album pairs Dvorak’s well-known Piano Quintet with Florence Price’s much less familiar work. What inspired this particular pairing, and what connections do you see between these two compositions?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, the idea came from the quartet, actually. I was only eager to accept if only because our collaborations in the past have been so wonderful, so fruitful, and among the very best chamber music experiences or musical experiences I’ve ever had. I would do anything with them, really, even if it was the phone book. There is a relationship between the two pieces, if only because of Dvorak’s fascination with African-American folk material, which Florence Price, of course, adopted fully and embraced fully. And I think that is the main relationship between those two pieces. They complement each other really pretty well, I think, I have to say.
András Fejér: Also Ed’s (Edward Dusinberre – Takács first violinist) wonderful book, Distant Melodies, he did impressive amount of research, obviously, and then discovered that Dvorak not only was a major personality in New York’s newly established music school, but that his sponsor lady gave serious amounts for composition departments specifically dealing with Native American roots and how these themes could be incorporated into future compositions.
Sanford Baran: From my understanding, Florence Price’s piano quintet was composed in the 30s, but only discovered or rediscovered in 2009 among manuscripts in her abandoned summer home, which is kind of a miracle. What was the process of bringing this work to recording, and what challenges did you face in interpreting a piece with so little performance history?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, when you have so little tradition to draw upon, it is of course a challenge, and you have to make a lot of decisions that otherwise you wouldn’t necessarily have to make. And the problem in this particular case was complicated by the fact that the score had a number of puzzling elements, I want to say mistakes, and in some instances, there were mistakes. And unfortunately, the published edition, which was done very recently, did not always attempt to solve these mysteries or these problems. And we found ourselves adopting solutions every once in a while. In the first movement, for example, there is what we strongly believe is a copying mistake, which resulted in cacophony for a bar, for just one bar and between the instruments. So we had to resolve to a rather drastic change at that particular spot. And also in the fourth movement, we ended up actually taking out a bar, a bar that was repeating material. We thought the basic scansion was sort of broken. So that particular part flows a lot better now.
Sanford Baran: I understand the recording was made at the Wyestone Concert Hall in Mountmouth, Wales. Could you talk about the recording process and how you approached capturing the distinct sound worlds of these two composers?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, you of the quartet have done most of your recent recordings there, if not all of them, right? This is an acoustic that you particularly favor, no?
Richard O’Neill: Yes, I think the quartet had done several recordings with you before I joined, right before I joined. It’s a very interesting venue because it’s basically like a full-sized concert hall. It’s a very generous acoustic. It’s very, we would call it wet, but it’s very, very resonant. For recordings, that’s a very nice thing. It has a very great room sound in the sense that it has a lot of body to the sound and a lot of depth and complexity. We really couldn’t say anything about recordings unless we mentioned our amazing engineer producer, Andrew Keener, who is a legend and is just a master of his craft. He really understands not only how to capture sound, but how to deal with artists and our idiosyncrasies, let’s put it that way. And Andrew creates such a wonderful atmosphere. It’s really difficult sometimes making a recording and it’s sort of like taking a photo of, a musical photo, an audio photo of the day. We are always evolving. We’re always changing as artists and to make a recording that’s something that’s going to last forever, for whatever that means, it’s tricky to capture that magic of how that sort of, I don’t want to call it zeitgeist, but the sort of feeling of the room, the feeling of the piece, feeling of the musicians. How do you capture that when you take away the visual, you just have the pure sound. And I think Andrew has that ability to capturing the lightning in the bottle by understanding our temperaments, our needs, our feelings, how we all feel together and putting that all together into the recording. The venue itself is in, I believe it’s almost in Wales. I don’t know. Is it in Wales proper?
Marc-André Hamelin: It’s on the Welsh border.
Richard O’Neill: It’s on the border and it’s very bucolic. You go down a very long dirt road along this sort of like Boulder, like along a beautiful river, the River Wye.
Marc-André Hamelin: It’s very secluded.
Richard O’Neill: Very secluded. You know, classical recordings are all Mono booth. It’s one set of mics. Everyone’s in the same room. We don’t record like pop music where you have Iso booths and you can layer. So it’s very, very important that the venue itself has quiet because otherwise you’re going to have a lot of problems. Not only does Wyesstone have the quiet, but it also has just the sense we go back to the inn after, you know, a full day’s session and we can have a very nice pub meal of mushy peas and some fried stuff. So i t’s really, I’m sorry I’m rambling, but it’s, I think it’s considering Marc-Andre’s recorded so much and András has recorded in many places. I really feel like an idyllic, it’s like a little time capsule. We can go away and we can escape from the real world and really immerse ourselves in the recording world.
Marc-André Hamelin: Yeah, this whole complex really belongs to the Nimbus recording label. They’re the ones who built it, put it together. I have a slightly more mixed feelings about the venue. For chamber music, it’s great. I mean, I wouldn’t work anywhere else, it’s really quite ideal. For solo piano recordings it’s more problematic as far as I’m concerned. I had kind of a bad start because the first CD I did, first solo CD I did in that venue was of my own set of Etudes, which are really quite busy. And acoustically, it was too confusing for that kind of music. So recordings I did after that, solo recordings, I did a Schubert CD and also a Morton Feldman CD, which is the epitome of, it’s one piece called Forbidden Marcus, and it’s 72 minutes and triple piano sempre. So for that, the venue was ideal and also for Schubert because it’s much, much less busy and it’s reflective and wonderful. But I would be very careful about recording anything else of solo piano. It fits, some other people love it, that’s great. But I have problems with busier music in there.
Sanford Baran: As chamber musicians, how do you approach the balance between piano and strings? Listening to the recording, it just sounds terrific. I mean, you can just hear all of the parts just perfectly.
Marc-André Hamelin: I was told early on that apparently the balance between piano and string quartet is one of the more difficult ones to achieve. But, you know, as far as the recording is concerned, I mean, it seems like they really had licked the problem, you know, they probably licked years and years and years ago. And I haven’t really noticed anything amiss. And I think the quartet would agree with me.
Richard O’Neill: You know, the clarity versus resonance balance, that’s the question, right? For all of us, you know, when we get in a space, whether it be remembering it or recording it or we’re playing for people in the room. And I think that’s always very interesting. You know, the recording process is, you know, you lay everything down, the engineer does his magic, sort of remembers what the best of the sessions were and makes the first edit. And when I when we got the first edit, it’s always, I guess it’s sort of detachment hearing, hearing something that you’ve been so involved with from the inside and all of a sudden hearing it from the outside. And one thing that I think what I was struck by is, you know, when I’m in the quartet, when I’m sitting in the group, and I hear, of course, András’ profound sound and bass, and Marc-André’s beautiful sound, when I am able, from the recording, to hear everything from maybe bird’s eye view of it, you know, a little bit of detachment. The utter beauty of Marc-André’s playing, just everything is just so, I don’t… control is the wrong word, but like everything is just so beautiful, just incredibly beautiful. And it’s fun to actually, after this sort of arduous process of trying to get things down, to hear things and then to get to appreciate them from an external point of view, from a listener’s point of view.
András Fejér: We also need to make some adjustments how we feel when we listen back to the master tape after half a year, because everybody changed in the meantime. Your style might have changed, your taste might have changed, you just have to remind yourself that half a year ago, this is what we loved, this is how we agreed on things. And just make comments, if any comments, if you really feel serious about any changes to be made. But once you realize that from a distance of half a year, things are different, then it’s a most enjoyable happening.
Marc-André Hamelin: Yeah, I appreciate the fact that we don’t get to hear the finished product for quite a few months, as András just said. And I think it helps us getting a fresher perspective. And what I consider very important is I always try to listen to it from the listener’s point, the eventual listener’s point of view, and not from my own. Yes, I hear all the little bugs that still weren’t quite right on my part, you know, but will they be important to the listener? And usually I conclude that the answer is no.
Sanford Baran: It wasn’t to me. I’d say the blend and just the level of artistry was an absolute success. In view of Takács’s 50th anniversary, and great that I have András here, as you’re one of the founding members, I just was wondering, how has the ensemble’s approach to chamber music evolved over these 50 years? And how does that history inform your interpretation, well, of these works, or the works that you’re playing right now?
András Fejér: Well, I’m singularly unable to be objective on the subject, since I’m within the system. I cannot, I cannot judge on various aspects of our workings in our first decade, or third decade, or right now. All we know is we try to dig deep down, and then prove our points, either by gut feelings, or, or learning different delicacies slash facts about the composer’s situation at that very point, and then trying to make honest and such decisions which which would stand the test of time. It’s always fascinating. It’s changing during the years, during the decades, but that makes it fascinating, because year after year, we bring new arguments to support certain points. And that’s what makes it so alive.
Sanford Baran: And it seems like with Takács, the repertoire is just expanding. Lots of alive today composers that you’re collaborating with.
András Fejér: We are lucky that we can stand on the shoulders of Harumi (Harumi Rhodes – Takács second violinist) and Richard with their extensive past lives with contemporary composers, and actually knowing most of them. We trust their instincts, their gut feelings, and those whom we love the most, we ask for to compose new, new pieces for us. Preferably, they listen to our style, and then they might try to incorporate certain elements of our playing which would work for their new piece.
Sanford Baran: Yeah, and Richard, as a more recent member of the quartet, what’s it like joining an ensemble with such a rich history? How do you balance honoring the Takács tradition, if there is a tradition, while bringing your own musical perspective?
Richard O’Neill: That’s a very good question, and something I think about almost every morning when I am headed into rehearsal. You know, my journey with the quartet started a long time ago as a listener in my teens, and appreciating very much their commitment to this vitality, to find the truth in whatever they play, and to make things living. But also, being very much on the inside now, there’s a humanity to the quartet on many different levels. Of course, internally, every member, every member’s family, and the community in which we live, and the way people have opened themselves to me, that makes me understand why the quartet has been so entrenched in this community here in Boulder. You know, for a quartet to exist really takes a lot. It really, it’s not just the four members, it’s a lot of things that go into that. And I feel like this community, and all the love that the community gives us, has really shown me things. When I first showed up here during the heights of COVID, and I had basically a car full of belongings, that was it, literally. And I was living with Ed and Harumi, because I couldn’t find anything to rent, because there was nothing to rent. András brought me eight cartons full of music that Jerry Walter had very graciously organized. And I spent so much of that time, you know, during COVID, because I didn’t socialize or anything. I was just here by myself, you know, just sort of like going through all of these stacks and stacks of parts from all these people, some of the people that are no longer with us. And it’s interesting, the archaeology, the markings in there, and all that humanity, and these scribbles. I can’t tell you how meaningful that was, and how educational it was. All those decades of blood, sweat, and tears, and all that history, and all that humanity, ended up in these parts. And I kind of got a glimpse digging around in all those parts. It really taught me a lot of things. And then, of course, to be next to somebody, just a living embodiment of what it means to be a true musician, and dedicate one’s life to something that they believe in. He just welcomes every, he never argues, like, we did it this way 40 years, and we can’t do it, you know, he never does that. I promise, he never, ever says that. He’s the most open-minded colleague, and magical, and funny. And we’re lucky that we live on the shoulders of those that came before us. And it’s really, it’s the honor of a lifetime being in the quartet.
Sanford Baran: Yeah, Marc-André, so just one last question here. I know that you and Takács have recorded many times, have a history, but still, you have this cohesive quartet, and now you’ve got the fifth wheel coming in. What’s that like? Obviously, you have such respect, and already have a rapport, but still, what’s that like, coming together for something like this?
Marc-André Hamelin: Well, it’s finding old friends again, and the joy of making music with old friends. I mean, it sounds platitudinous, but it’s the absolute truth. As you go along in your career, I think the instinct is just to stay with people that you’re going to trust musically, and you have joy making music with. And that’s all what it’s about. I should perhaps insert an anecdote at this point, which will tell you a lot. When we recorded the Shostakovich Piano Quintet, this is, I don’t know, maybe 10 years ago or something. The morning, somehow, my back started to lock. My lower back was completely spasmed. And pretty soon, I could almost not move a muscle or move in any kind of way without being hysterically in pain. And the recording was going to start that afternoon. I did have some pretty powerful pain medicine, I just happened to have some. And we decided to start the recording, start recording anyway. The nice thing with the Shostakovich Piano Quintet is that, aside from the scherzo, it has five movements. It’s not very pianistically difficult. So it didn’t tax me as much as other repertoire might have. But the way the hall is set up over there, the recording venue, it is a concert hall, very, very high ceiling. And the stage is three small steps above the ground floor. So when I was sitting, of course, performing, I was all right. But every time we had to listen to a take, we had to go to the control room. And I couldn’t possibly have walked there by myself at that point. So Ed and András were kind enough to… Well, first of all, in the control room, there was one of those office chairs with five wheels, you know. And so they brought the chair, you know, and they took me, each side of me, and then just hoisted me onto the chair and rolled me up to the control room so we could listen to takes. So I can’t tell you how many times that happened, but they were so extraordinarily helpful and understanding. It’s a dominating memory from that recording session, you know, aside from the musical result, of course.
Sanford Baran: Anyway, we’ve been speaking with Richard O’Neill and András Fejér and Marc-André Hamelin. Thank you for being with us, and congratulations on the release of this album, ‘Dvořák and Price Piano Quintets’ on the Hyperion label. Thank you so much.
All: Many thanks. Thank you. Thank you.
Sanford Baran: This is Sanford Baran for KGNU.
