Highly Recommended Concert: MARTIN CHALIFOUR AND FRIENDS FROM THE LA PHIL (St. Alban’s Episcopal Church)

Dahae Kim (cello) joined the LA Phil as Assistant Principal in 2016. Previously, she was Assistant Principal Cello of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Ben Ullery (viola) was chosen by Gustavo Dudamel for the position of Associate Principal Viola of the LA Phil and was previously Assistant Principal of the same orchestra since 2012.

Lyndon Johnston Taylor (violin) is the Principal Second Violinist of the LA Phil. From 2007 to 2011, he served as Assistant Concertmaster for the New Zealand Symphony.

Michael Larco (viola) was Assistant Principal Violist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 2005-2012 and joined the LA Phil in 2012.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Divertimento in D Major, K. 136   for String Quartet

Mozart composed the Divertimento in Salzburg in the winter of 1772 at age 16. He probably wrote it for a musical evening held in the home of a leading resident at which he frequently performed on both keyboard and violin. It’s in three movements, fast-slow-fast after the manner of the Italian sinfonia.

Johannes Brahms

String Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 88

The String Quintet in F major, Op. 88 written at age 49 marks the halfway point in Brahms’ chamber music career. Brahms wrote the quintet in the spring of 1882, so the work is at times nicknamed “Spring”.   The name applies equally well to the fresh and colorful mood of the music, particularly the outer movements of this three-movement work.

Felix Mendelssohn

String Quintet No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 87

Mendelssohn’s B-flat Quintet reminds many of his famous Octet, which he wrote twenty years earlier at the age of 16. The opening of each work is exuberant, brilliant, even heroic, and displays the first violin in a truly soloistic capacity, with the other parts supporting in an effervescent, fevered accompaniment.