Quartet of Critics

Turicum Quartet / Menuet of the witches

Joseph Haydn has been called “Papa Haydn”, both affectionately and pejoratively. Meanwhile, he was a composer whose mastery and unpredictability went hand in hand. Let us appreciate the emotional glimmering of the music, its surprising turns, sense of humour (the “menuet of the witches” quite unlike the court dance), or the finale inspired by music of the Romani people living in the borderlands of Austria and Hungary, where the composer spent most of his life. The spirit of Austria-Hungary is also referenced – already after the fall of the dual monarchy – in the modernist parodying miniatures by Erwin Schulhoff, who enhanced them with motifs of his native Czechia. Even though Szymanowski knew the capital of Austria-Hungary, he did not like it; his String Quartet No. 1 represents a different direction, as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz wrote: “Never before has any of his works breathed such a scorching air of the South; not the heat of the Sicilian south or the mourning of the Greek heat, in which Pan’s flute kills hearts – but the juicy and ripe heat which smells like the crops of Ukraine.” Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 60 minutes

Barbican Quartet

The Barbican Quartet was founded in 2015, and is taught and supported by string quartet stars like Günter Picheler and the Quatuor Ébène. The four musicians present works by Alban Berg and Beethoven as part of the »Teatime Classics« series. 2022 was a memorable year for the Barbican Quartet: they won first prize and other special prizes at the ARD Music Competition, as well as a third prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. The ensemble had only just found a new second violinist, and thus a new sound and style of ensemble playing, in February 2022. The Barbican Quartet has appeared at many international festivals, and has been broadcast on the radio several times. In the 2022/23 season, they produced and released their first CD. An extensive tour will take them to different parts of Europe, to Canada and the USA.

Critics’ Quartet

Moderated by Olaf Wilhelmer, four critics will once again discuss a central work this year: in 2024 it will be Aaron Copland’s 3rd Symphony.The “Critics’ Quartet” takes place instead of the usual introduction to the concert with the Kansas City Symphony conducted by Matthias Pintscher.

Belcea Quartet

Takács Quartet

Beethoven's quartets dedicated to the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Razumovsky, are some of his most famous. The first of the three is majestic in its scope, filled with both carefree melodies and tension-filled contrasts.When it comes to string quartets, Joseph Haydn was a role model and important source of inspiration for Beethoven, and there's a musical thread from Haydn's C major quartet to Beethoven's Razumovsky quartets.The ensemble tackling this music, the Takács Quartet, was founded in Hungary but is now based in the USA. They are known for their brilliant playing and innovative programs. They often collaborate with writers and artists, and at several concerts, the actress Meryl Streep has participated.The Takács Quartet also commissions music. One such initiative is the beautifully flowing Flow by American composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama, who has looked out towards space and drawn inspiration from the Big Bang and the expansion of the universe.

Belcea Quartet

Beethoven's five late string quartets are a listening adventure like no other. One of the most performed and beloved is No. 14, with opus number 131. Here, it seems as if Beethoven is searching for the freedom of thought and soul through his music. Perhaps that's also why this music speaks so strongly to us, with its warmth, imagination, and intensity, transcending all historical barriers. And the slow, dense first movement is among the most beautiful ever created for a string quartet.The Belcea Quartet is one of the world's most prominent string quartets. The quartet has performed at Konserthuset Stockholm on several occasions previously, including in a series of concerts featuring all of Beethoven's string quartets.Here, instead, the quartet combines Beethoven with Arnold Schönberg, whom many associate with twelve-tone music. But Schönberg was a great romantic, and the string quartet we hear here, the first of four numbered ones, was his first truly major composition. It is music brimming with wild energy and swelling late romanticism, composed in 1905 in Vienna, a city that had a significant influence on Schönberg with its vibrant art scene and Freud's psychological investigations.

BELCEA QUARTET

Continuing its close collaboration with the Pierre Boulez Saal, the Belcea Quartet returns to Berlin for two concerts. Following a performance of string quartets by Arnold Schoenberg and Ludwig van Beethoven, the four musicians will be joined by students of the Barenboim-Said Akademie two days later for the rousing String Octet by 16-year-old Felix Mendelssohn.

CHIAROSCURO QUARTET

A critic once described the first encounter with the Chiaroscuro Quartet as a “shock for the ears.” Over the past two decades, the group has come to be regarded as the leading string quartet for historically informed performance practice, and with their adventurous interpretations the four musicians transform even familiar repertoire classics into unexpected discoveries. A fixture of past Pierre Boulez Saal seasons, the ensemble has chosen works by Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert for its latest program.

JACK QUARTET

Pierre Boulez’s Livre pour quatuor is among the most complex chamber music works of the 20th century. At the same time, the score—left unfinished by the composer—also has a fragmentary quality. The JACK Quartet, regularly heard at the Pierre Boulez Saal over the last few seasons, performs individual movements from Boulez’s only string quartet, pairing them with recent works by Eva­-Maria Houben and Anthony Cheung, among others, and the String Quartet in Four Parts by Boulez’s contemporary John Cage.

HEATH QUARTET

Josef Suk’s close bond with his composition teacher Antonín Dvořák was not merely artistic—he was also his older colleague’s son­-in-­law. The Heath Quartet juxtaposes Dvořák’s String Quartet Op. 51, known as the “Slavonic” due to its many allusions to Czech folk music, with Suk’s meditation on an ancient chorale for Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. Written on the eve of World War I, the composition is a plea for peace and protection as well as an expression of new­ found Czech patriotism. Works by Benjamin Britten and Joseph Haydn complete the program.