The Q&A Interview:
Rafael Todes, Allegri String Quartet

INTERVIEW: Rafael Todes, 2nd Violinist of the Allegri Quartet, in conversation with Classical Music UK published April 2007

The Allegri Quartet is spearheading a new series of Sunday morning chamber concerts (with creche facilities!) at The Nave in Islington, from 29 April - 15 July 2007.

CMUK: Although your repertoire includes the classic works for String Quartet, the Allegri also promotes a number of new compositions. Why is it important to juxtapose composers such as Beethoven with contemporary music?
 
RT: I think that mixing a 21st century/20th century classic with a Beethoven Quartet is an interesting way to place and re-evaluate Beethoven’s work. Stravinsky said that the Grosse Fugue was the “only” contemporary work!
  
CMUK: Do you work with composers on the music you have commissioned? Does this give you any insights that you wouldn't get if playing a piece by a dead
composer?

RT: Yes, it is always interesting to hear a composer’s insight on their own work, but sometimes we make suggestions which they hadn’t considered. It is very much a dialogue.
 
CMUK: When learning new repertoire, what are the complexities and challenges
that a string quartet must overcome, individually and as a group? How does
the process develop from the first rehearsal to the concert platform?

RT: From a read-through stage, working with the composer - the first performance, subsequent performances… The first performance is very much the start of our relationship with a piece, which grows and matures with time.
 
CMUK: One of the remarkable things about the Allegri quartet is how the
personnel have changed, yet the quartet has continued. How is the quartet's
dynamic altered with each change of musician?

RT: The dynamic does alter, as people change, but with every change, the existing members grow, and mutate - and it always brings new ideas and dynamism to the group!

The Allegri's latest line-up: (L to R) Dorothea Vogel, Pal Banda, Rafael Todes, Ofer Falk

CMUK: What are the greatest challenges that face a string quartet player?

RT: To stay sane and come to terms with the almost monastic existence required!
 
CMUK: What are the most memorable experiences that you have had as a quartet?

RT: In Montreal, in 1979, we were late for a flight because of a massive snowstorm. By the time we arrived, the flight was closing, but the security men were making a big fuss about the cello. Tempers were rising, and it looked like half the quartet would be stopped from boarding the flight. Peter Carter made an exasperated remark ill-advisedly including the word 'bomb'...

He was arrested within moments, the flight was cancelled, and he found himself in a Canadian prison for the next 24 hours. The rest of the quartet had to scramble to organize legal assistance, and a lawyer friend of a friend managed to secure bail so that the quartet could continue with the tour. Peter Carter eventually returned for the hearing at the end of the tour, and managed to be acquitted on a technicality!
 
CMUK: What is the future of the string quartet as an artform?

RT: I think the Arditti Quartet are better placed to answer that question than me!
 
CMUK: In 2000, you wrote movingly in the Spectator about performing in a prison, and that the intense reactions proved "that the string quartet will continue to  speak across cultures, backgrounds and age groups for generations to come." Does the string quartet really have a cross-generational appeal?
 
RT: Chamber music often hits people later on in life, which is why our audiences are more mature than most. The Islington series is, I believe, an interesting way to appeal to the old and young simultaneously - we did a workshop for the younger members of the community, which introduced the children to the medium, with a great response. Hopefully we’ll see them return for the concert!

The Allegri Quartet is spearheading a new series of Sunday morning chamber concerts (with creche facilities!) at The Nave in Islington, from 29 April - 15 July 2007.