Cypress Quartet's New Beethoven CD Launched

It's official - the Cypress String Quartet, who'll be performing in January as part of the new 2009-2010 season with Market Square Concerts, launches their latest recording, the first in a series of the complete string quartets by none other than Ludwig van Beethoven.

And Volume 1 consists of the String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Op.131, and the very last one, the Quartet in F Major, Op.135.

Today, cellist Jennifer Kloetzel was interviewed on Vpype which I was able to access (at least for the brief time I was able to) through Facebook.

But if you couldn't watch the video live yourself, they've posted it on-line so you can view it whenever you want. So, since you're here now, click on this and, with any luck, it should work:

Watch this live broadcast from Jennifer Kloetzel (at Vpype Broadcaster)

If it doesn't, er... as it didn't the first time I posted it - try THIS LINK.

Vpype - which they pronounce V-pipe (I was trying to make something tongue-twistingly Slavic out of it - v'PEE-yeh... wrong...) - is another new format for broadcasting live on the internet. At the moment, it's "in Beta" and I'm gathering may only be available to Facebook Users -- so, uhm... well, it may be another reason to join the gazillion other people who are wasting lots of their time on-line there, and then add Market Square Concerts to your page! AND the Cypress Quartet, too!

I don't think the 'chat text' will be visible when you view it, but during the live broadcast, viewers could write in questions to ask Jennifer. You'll hear her say hello to me, in fact, when I asked my question about how many CDs and how long this project may take before all 16 quartets have been released.

It was at that point, the phone rang again - I never get any calls, so of course during the brief interview, I get two of them... - and by the time I got back to the computer, it was over! So I definitely want to tune in and hear the whole thing.

Tonight, there's a "release party" at their home base in San Francisco celebrating the launch! I'm going to celebrate by listening to the CD myself, back here in Harrisburg, and I'll post a 'review' here in a couple of days. I already listened to it once and I can tell you it's very good. Stay tuned to find out how good.

It's tough reviewing your friends - I've known them since they first appeared here with the first of the Next Generation Festivals Ellen Hughes, now Director of Market Square Concerts, had organized at WITF. The quartet'd been together less than a year but have come back to the area frequently since then, between subsequent Next Generation Festivals, residency concerts with Lebanon Valley College and just this past summer, one at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music in Lancaster. They're beginning their 14th Season together next month!

So, check out the Vpype interview (whether you can pronounce it or not), check out their website for more details about the CD (where you can also listen to samples) and check back in a couple of days for something kind of like a review right here.

And while you're at it, put Saturday, January 23rd, 2010, at 8pm on your calendar now for their Market Square Concerts performance - which will be held at Temple Ohev Sholom in uptown Harrisburg. They'll be playing the string quartets by Claude Debussy and Samuel Barber and a recent work composed for them by Jennifer Higdon who will be here for the performance!

- Dr. Dick