Yannick Nézet-Séguin Leads the Met Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie
Thursday, November 5, doors at 7:30 pm, Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in Midtown Manhattan.
On Thursday, November 5, Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall hosts an evening of chamber music led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who also leads the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. Doors open at 7:30 pm, and the Met Chamber Ensemble brings two string works that could hardly be more different in mood.
The program
The concert pairs Schubert's Death and the Maiden quartet, in the arrangement for string orchestra that Gustav Mahler made, with Janáček's String Quartet No. 2, subtitled Intimate Letters. Hearing the Schubert in a larger string sound lets the familiar theme open up in a new way, and the Janáček offers a sharper, more personal voice.
The music
Schubert wrote his quartet in 1824, drawing its theme from his own song of the same name, in which Death gently comforts a frightened young woman. Mahler's string orchestra version, made in the 1890s, adds weight and color to every phrase. Janáček composed his second quartet in 1928, late in his career, inspired by letters he wrote to a much younger woman, and its passion is direct and unusually vivid for chamber music.
The conductor and the hall
Nézet-Séguin leads the Met Opera's orchestra, so this evening links the opera house and Carnegie Hall. Stern Auditorium is the grand room of the complex, with a capacity of about 2,800, so even a chamber program feels like an occasion.
Tickets and getting there
Tickets are on sale through Carnegie Hall. The event page lists no prices, so check the seating options when you buy. The hall is at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, a short walk from the 57th Street–Seventh Avenue station on the N, Q, R and W lines. Arrive early, since doors open at 7:30 pm.