Closing the Open Book: The Guarneri Quartet

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THE GUARNERI QUARTET has been in the game since 1964, and with three of its original members still in the group, you might think the celebrated foursome would have little left to learn at this point. The news of their retirement after the 2008-09 season might even make you think they'd simply be playing out the string now (as it were).

But throughout its recording and concert career, the group has earned its many fans by ceaselessly searching for that numinous texture, that heartbreaking detail, that innovative approach that will allow them to best serve the music. In what's become a tradition of open rehearsals at the University of Maryland, they allow an audience to come along on that search — and maybe even influence its course.

The first of four open rehearsals this fall is Wednesday at 5 p.m., in the university's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. If you can get out of the office by then, you'll get to watch violinists Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley, violist Michael Tree and cellist Peter Wiley punch in and get to work — the quartet uses the time just like any other rehearsal, concentrating on preparing for their next concert. Still, it's definitely a special occasion as rehearsals go, and the quartet hopes "that people enjoy hearing what a quartet behaves like, what it's like to be up there," Tree said.

In addition to the curious, the open rehearsals also attract die-hard string quartet lovers who inquire days or weeks in advance about the repertoire the quartet will be playing, so that they can prepare for the experience. (Tree mentioned Beethoven, Haydn, Borodin, Brahms and Smetana as names on the quartet's touring programs that may pop up at Wednesday's rehearsal.)

And while the quartet discusses the same matters of intonation and interpretation that they would during a normal rehearsal, they also take advantage of the presence of a crowd.

"We also very much enjoy interacting with the audience members, in a way that concerts wouldn't permit, of course," Tree said. "We invite them to ask questions and even make comments, sometimes even critical ones. And that's all to the good — it keeps us on our toes."

In fact, Tree and the Guarneri welcome objections from the peanut gallery: "I think it would be foolish of us not to accept criticism or disagreement that might arise. Keep in mind that string quartet aficionados have strong feelings and have their favorite quartets and very often have played the very same works at home that we might be concertizing with. And so they're certainly entitled to have strong feelings one way or the other. It never gets testy; it's never meant to be anything but constructive."

What has led the Guarneri to disband? Tree cited the difficulties of modern travel and the long stretches away from home that their touring schedule demands. Plus, said Tree, "there are festivals during the summer months, for example, that are very enticing, but if we've had a very hard winter, our families are quite determined that we don't spend much more time away from home."

The fact that the three original members — Steinhardt, Dalley and Tree; Wiley joined in 2001 — are all over 70 might also have something to do with it.

Nevertheless, none of the Guarneri players plans to hang up his bow once the quartet's through; Tree noted that he teaches at five schools of music and will continue to do so.

When asked whether the members of the quartet have included Maryland, where the quartet has been in residence for over 25 years, in their post-Guarneri plans, Tree said nothing is certain, but "we've always had a special, warm relationship with the university and made many close friends in the area, and we just hope to continue for a bit beyond our retirement."

Although they'll no longer be the Guarneri, they still want to keep playing and learning.

» Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Gildenhorn Recital Hall, University Boulevard & Stadium Drive; Wed., 5 p.m., free; 301-405-2787. (College Park-U of Md)

Written by Express contributor Andrew Lindemann Malone

Photos by Steve Sherman (top) and Cory Weaver