Wihan Quartet News

First-ever Beethoven Series in Prague

2007-08-25T15:52:00.000Z

Wihan Quartet Beethoven Cycle 07/08

St. Agnes Convent
KLASTER SV ANESKY
Prague

DATES OPUS Nos.

Thurs 18 October 07 18/1; 14/1; 59/1

Thurs 08 November 18/2; 74; 131

Thurs 06 December 18/3; 59/3; 127

Thurs 17 January 18/4; 95; 132

Thurs 07 February 18/5; 135; 59/2

Thurs 13 Mar 18/6; 130; 133

The series is being promoted by the
Czech National Symphony Orchestra

email :Ticket@cnso.cz

Tel: +420 267 215 254 or 576
Fax: +420 267 215 361

New DVD and Reviews January 07

2007-01-27T11:48:00.000Z

26 January 2007

We are very pleased to announce the release of the DVD of the Wihan Quartet’s very special 20th Anniversary Concert at the Rudolfinum, Prague in December 2005.
The concert included Haydn Quartet Op76/3 ‘Emperor’, Dvorak Quartet Op96 ‘American’ and Schubert’s C Major Quintet for two cellos with
Jamie Walton, cello. See www.wihanquartet.com/discography
If you would like a copy of this DVD for £15 including p&p please contact Pamela Majaro on 020 7435 8479 or by email cdsales@wihanquartet.com.

The 20th Anniversary concert coincided with the release of the final CD of the Wihan’s Beethoven Series of recordings for Lotos and in delightful symmetry I can now announce that the Wihan Quartet will be giving the very first cycle of all the Beethoven Quartets in Prague.
The series will take place in St Agnes Cloister, Prague from October 2007 to March 2008:

18 Oct 2007 op.18/1,op.14/1,op.59/1
8 Nov 2007 op.18/2,op.74,op.131
6 Dec 2007 op.18/3,op.59/3,op.127
17 Jan 2008 op.18/4,op.95,op.132
7 Feb 2008 op.18/5,op.135,op.59/2
13 Mar2008 op.18/6,op.133,op.130

Please contact Upbeat Classical Management on 01895 259 441 or admin@upbeatclassical.co.uk if you would like further information about this series

The 10 box set of the Wihan’s Beethoven recordings is available from Pamela Majaro at a cost of £50 +£3 p&p. Single CDs are £10+ £1p&p

The Wihan received wonderful reviews following their concerts in November in Kendal and in December* at the Wigmore Hall and we have attached the glowing reviews below. The Quartet will be in the UK again in February when they will be performing Brahms, Schumann and Dvorak Quintets with the outstanding young Czech pianist Martin Kasik. You will also find the list of the Quartet’s forthcoming concerts below.

An important date for your diary: 26 June 2007 when the Wihan will again be performing at the Wigmore Hall. Their programme will include Haydn ‘Emperor’ Quartet, Mendelssohn Op44/2, Dvorak Piano Quintet and the premiere of Roxanna Panufnik’s ‘Cavatina and Moravian Dance’, commissioned by the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust.

The Quartet look forward to seeing you at one of their UK concerts and do hope that you will also be able to make the trip to Prague for their historic Beethoven cycle.

Westmorland Gazette
Kendal Midday Concert Club

Wednesday 29 November 2006

The Kendal Midday Concert Club’s most recent visitor was the Wihan String Quartet from Czechoslovakia and, as is usually the case as soon as the first notes are played, the Concert Club’s composite, discerning musical ear knew that it could look forward to a splendid concert. An encore – the slow movement from Dvorak’s A flat Op.105 quartet, played in honour of the players’ homeland – was an amalgam of their strengths, which throughout the programme had been presented in rich abundance; technical mastery, beauty of tone in all registers, immaculate intonation, spacious, flexible phrasing, near perfect balance and ensemble work, attention to a wealth of detail, rhythmic assurance and a thorough understanding and projection of the piece’s ‘raison d’être’.
Previously, two quartets - Beethoven’s F minor Op.95 and Ravel’s F major – had been played with awesome authority. The Beethoven is a work of contrasts; wit, seriousness, humour, passion and tenderness are all present and the players, enabled by their peerless technical facilities, illuminated its glories magnificently. Emphatically spirited statements vied with poetic moments and with crisply articulate passages whilst the unifying factor was the constant search for beauty – beauty of line, of tone, of blend.
The Ravel – a sea of change, if ever there was one, in character and mood – received an absorbing performance that merely heightened our appreciation of the Wihan’s supreme musicianship. Qualities that will long remain etched in the memory are the warmth and depth of tone that highlighted the score’s shimmering colours, the virtuosic technical display, not only of bowing but also presentation of the wonderfully varied effects Ravel creates. The pungent rhythmic drive, too, was ever present as was the total – focused concentration of all four players.

A stunning concert!
Brian Paynes

* Wihan Quartet
@ Wigmore Hall, London, 17 December 2006

Wihan Quartet Sunday mornings on London's Wigmore Street are usually a quiet affair. The constant flow of traffic subsides, the population of passers-by dwindles, and the sounds of general hustle and bustle are reduced as the area lies in wait for the start of a new week.
Pop your head inside the local concert venue, however, and you'll find an intense buzz of excited anticipation.
Alongside its regular line-up of evening performances, the Wigmore Hall houses a number of daytime recital series that always have much to offer.
The "Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts", all held at 11.30am, are one of these concert series, allowing the audience to witness approximately one hour of chamber or solo instrumental music from world-class musicians at a very reasonable £10 per ticket.

The most recent instalment in this set of concerts witnessed two arresting performances by the renowned Wihan Quartet. Given the Czech background of all four members of the ensemble, as well as the man after which it was named (the Bohemian 'cellist Hanus Wihan, a close friend of Dvorák's and the dedicatee of the famous B-minor 'Cello Concerto Op. 104), it was no surprise to see the programme dominated by a work from "back home". In this particular instance it was Dvorák's String Quartet in A-flat major Op. 105, the composer's final piece of "absolute" instrumental music (the G-major Quartet Op. 106 was, in fact, written before Op. 105).

Though on the very cusp of his switch to programme music and his return opera, Dvorák was able to produce an instrumental work – "conventional" both in form and medium – of remarkable freshness and vitality, two characteristics that were brilliantly conveyed by the Wihan Quartet in this rendition. This was a thrilling rollercoaster ride that journeyed through many and disparate sentiments, from the tragic yearning of the third-movement Lento e molto cantabile to the heartfelt contentment of the ensuing Allegro ma non tanto. Though it seems unfair to single out any particular players from a group that emitted such a rich and unified timbre during the course of the entire performance, the iridescent tone of lead violinist Leos Cepicky was a continual source of pleasure, particularly in the soaring melodies of the second-movement scherzo.

The ensemble's own biography speaks of a "spellbinding sound" and, on this occasion at least, this was an entirely apt description. As is increasingly popular in both chamber and orchestral settings, 'cellist Ales Kasprík was sat between the second violin and the viola. Much debate surrounds this practice (the alternative being for the 'cello and viola to exchange places), its acoustic and its "correctness". Though it is not a personal favourite of mine, the Wihan Quartet certainly put forward a convincing argument through their music. Violist Jirí Zigmund, who stands to lose the most from this setting because his sound production naturally travels away from the auditorium, was a joy to watch, constantly turning to the audience as if he were handing his glorious phrases to those in attendance.

The concert had begun with an intense performance of Beethoven's String Quartet in F minor Op. 95, "Serioso". Though the first movement occasionally lacked a sense of direction, the overall effect of this account was simply awe-inspiring. The stately Allegretto ma non troppo, deftly moulded by the composer, was treated by the Wihan Quartet like a fine and delicate tapestry as the players delivered the intricately woven themes with loving sensitivity. The aura created by this performance was so entrancing that the subsequent Allegro assai vivace, ma serioso came as a real jolt to the system. Both this and the last movement were played with great verve as the quartet displayed simultaneously their musicianship and their virtuosity. The sense of restlessness created in Allegretto agitato of the finale was of the "edge-of-your-seat" variety. Indeed, on more than one occasion it appeared as if second violinist Jan Schulmeister was on the verge of leaping out of his chair, such was the excitement of the performance.

After the music-making had come to a close, all patrons were invited to have coffee or sherry (included with one's ticket) in the foyer or the Bechstein Room, thus ensuring that the warm, welcoming ambience in the concert hall did not end with the final clap of applause. It is this particularly congenial, civilised atmosphere of the Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts that serves both as a perfect end to the previous week, and an idyllic way to embark on the forthcoming seven days.
- William Norris

Feb 17 Darlington Music Society, Tel: 01325 486555
Darlington Arts Centre, DL3 7AX, 7.30pm
Haydn Op 64/5 ‘The Lark’, Schubert ‘Rosamunde’,
Schumann Piano Quintet

Feb 19 Hoylake Chamber Concert Society
St Hildeburgh Church, 7.30pm
Dvorak Op 96, Smetana ‘From My Life’, Beethoven Op130

Feb 20 Rodewald Concert Series, Tel: 0151 709 3789
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, L1 9BP, 7.30pm
Haydn Op 76/3, 'Emperor', Beethoven Op 95 'Serioso',
Schumann Piano Quintet

Feb 21 Newcastle Chamber Music Society, Tel: 0191 443 4661
The Sage Gateshead, Gateshead, NE8 2JR, 7.30pm
Mozart Adagio & Fugue K546, Dvorak Piano Quintet Op 81, Brahms Piano Quintet

Feb 24 Barrandov Opera
Needham Market, Suffolk, IP6 8HG, 7pm
Haydn Op64/5, Schubert ‘Rosamunde’, Dvorak Piano Quintet

Feb 25 Oxford Chamber Music Society, Tel: 01865 305305
Holywell Music Room, Oxford, OX1 3SW, 2.45pm
Haydn Op 64/5, Schubert ‘Rosamunde’, Schumann Piano Quintet

Feb 27 Nottingham Music Society Tel: 08444 775678
Concert Hall, Congregation Centre, Nottingham, 7.30pm
Mozart Adagio and Fugue, Schumann Piano Quintet and
Brahms Piano Quintet

Feb 28 Abbotsholme Music Society, Tel: 01543 263304
Abbotsholme School, Staffordshire, ST14 5BS, 8pm
Mozart Adagio & Fugue K546, Dvorak Piano Quintet Op 81,
Brahms Piano Quintet

Mar 2 Bromley Music Club, 7.30pm
Mozart Adagio & Fugue K546, Dvorak Piano Quintet Op 81,
Brahms Piano Quintet

Mar 3 Bournemouth Chamber Music Society, Tel: 01202 761881
Talbot Heath School, Bournemouth, BH4 9NJ, 3pm
Mozart Adagio & Fugue, Schumann Piano Quintet,
Dvorak Piano Quintet Op 81

Summer Autumn Winter 2006

2006-09-21T15:55:00.000Z

SUMMER 2006

After a great summer, which included a trip to Geneva for the Festival de Bellerive run by Lesley de Senger Takacs and then into France for the St. Agreve Festival, situated two hours up a winding mountain road, we came down to earth with a bang when we realised that, due to the security problems, we could not take our instruments into the UK if we wanted to take them out again.

Our good friend, Simon Majaro, came to our rescue with his quartet of wonderful instruments, which we first played at the Wigmore Hall in 1999. For the next two visits, the fact that we were playing on these instruments gave a greater spice to the concerts and the audience were intrigued.

A concert tour in Sweden in September was the result of a Swedish promoter hearing us in Prague and then being entertained in the late evening by Jiri (our viola) and his gipsy friends in the Herak Ensemble. Our two groups travelled 2000 kilometres together around Sweden, playing the same mix of concerts every evening. A really novel and exciting project!

AUTUMN 2006

In early November, we will be in Trinity College of Music and Blackheath Halls, taking part in a variety of activities as follows:

Trinity College of Music Master classes 3.11.06 5 –9 pm

Junior Trinity Master classes 4.11.06 10 am – 1pm

Blackheath Halls Coffee Concert 5 11.06 11 am
Mozart K428, Beethoven op95 and Ravel
020 8463 0100 8-22s £5 (sponsored by CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust)

Blackheath Halls School concert 6.11.06 2 pm

Blackheath /Carducci Q. Master Classes 7.11.06 10 am & 2 pm
The Carducci Quartet are now the holders of the Bulldog Scholarship at Trinity

(All these activities are open to the public with the exception of the School concert.)

WINTER 2006

Back in the UK at the end of November, for a visit to Dillington Hall on the 25th, Conway Hall on the 26th (Dvorak’s Piano Quartet with Libor Novacek) and Kendal on the 29th.

On the 17th December, in a Coffee concert at the Wigmore Hall, we will be playing for the first time in the UK another of Dvorak’s really great quartets, op 105. (Tickets on Sale NOW 020 7935 2141)

For those of you who love Dvorak, we would recommend you to get to know all his quartets but especially Op 34, Op.51 (Slavonic), Op. 61, Op. 96 (American), Opp. 105 and 106. Of course to these we must add Dvorak’s Viola Quintet Op. 97 and the Piano Quintet Op. 81.

We have recordings of opp. 51/106 and of opp. 96/61 and also of the Viola Quintet and Piano Quintet. (See Discography). Hopefully we will get sponsorship to produce a CD of opp 34/105 soon.

Watch this space or the Concert Diary for the Feb/March Tour in the UK with Martin Kasik (piano)

Wihan Quartet, summer autumn winter 2006

2006-09-21T12:45:00.000Z

December 05 - August 06

2006-03-31T15:58:00.000Z

DECEMBER 2005

There are many exciting events to report since our last NEWS update.

On 7 December in the Rudolfinum in Prague, we celebrated our 20th Anniversary with many friends and loyal fans in the audience. We were especially happy to have Milan Skampa and Antonin Kohout of the Smetana Quartet with us. Prof. Kohout delighted the audience with a wonderful speech on stage before the interval, in which he said he was not only surprised that we had lasted 20 years but also that he had too. He then toasted us with a glass of champagne.

This concert also saw the launch of op 130, the final CD recorded by us of Beethoven’s complete works.
All the Beethoven CDs are now on sale either singly or alternatively as a set at a most advantageous price. (see discography on this website)

A DVD should be available soon of the whole concert – Haydn op 76 no 3 ‘Emperor’,
Dvorak op 96 in F major ‘American’ and Schubert’s glorious Quintet in C major, with Jamie Walton, one of the finest cellists we know, joining us from London.

The review at the end of this blog will give you a taste of the evening:

10 - 17 December

This period saw us back again to the UK to teach at Pro Corda Musical Encounters, a course for young professionals. The standard of musicianship on this course never fails to astonish us – but we still make them work really hard

JANUARY 22nd
– On our way from a concert in Birmingham, we stopped over in Oxford for the day to coach and share a concert with Oxford University students at the Holywell Music Room. This exciting project was organised by the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust (more later) to attract OU Students to a chamber music concert.
What a pleasure to see so many young people at one of our concerts! Half the audience consisted of students, many of whom had never before been to a CM concert. Many fans from far and wide made up the rest of the concert audience.

The following weekend we spent in Norfolk with the St. Petersburg Quartet in our final tour together of Octets, Sextets and Quintets. The Norfolk and Norwich Society is a Mecca for chamber music lovers and we love being there too.

On the Saturday morning we rushed down to Saffron Walden to give a surprise Birthday concert for Susan Smith. Gordon, her husband, had arranged for us to play one of the Purcell Quintets with her on the second viola. She did this without batting an eyelid even though she had no idea she was going to do this until five minutes before it happened.

Back in Prague, we recorded the last notes of our new CD of the two Smetana Quartets for Arco Diva. This CD will be ready in May and will be on sale at our concert at the Wigmore Hall on May 17th as well as on the web, where all our CDs can be purchased.

Our Wigmore Hall concert is supported by the ADR Group, professionals in dispute resolution so we’ll know where to go if we need them. This is the second time that ADR have sponsored one of our concerts and we are very happy to continue this relationship.

Please call the Wigmore Hall now (020 7935 2141) for tickets for this concert.

As a sequel to this concert, we are visiting two schools in NW London for the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust on the 18 and 19 May to give lunch time concerts and reveal the intricacies of composing variation movements to the pupils – in this case the slow movement of Haydn’s Emperor quartet. We are expecting about 30 (or maybe more) of these GCSE and A level students to come to the Wigmore Hall.

In April (21-23) we are at the Castle Hotel in Taunton for Martin Randall Tours, but as this has been sold out since November, we suggest you come and hear us in Bratislava on August 10th on Martin’s Austro-Hungarian Cruise or in Buckingham in August (20/21) for Kirker Holidays.

We have played in many other wonderful venues in the UK and have met some delightful people who have hosted us, and others who have helped in many ways. Many thanks to you all.

If any one wishes to get in touch with us, please use the comment button to let us know how you enjoyed our concerts and/or CDs or just to have a chat.

For booking concerts, please contact Maureen Phillips, our General Manager.

20 YEARS OF THE WIHAN QUARTET

Prof. Ivan Straus first published in Czech in Hudebni Rozhledy, January 2006

What is better – to be a partner in a string quartet or in a marriage?
The answer is probably the same for both relationships: success does not come easy.

The comparison with a marriage is often fitting: furious arguments about minor differences, attacks of claustrophobia due to constantly working and travelling together; variable moods, sometimes good, sometimes bad and on top of all this, possible financial problems; and, at the end of the day, always the basic question – will the relationship work or not?

Twenty years of marriage is a long time today when one considers the temporary nature of many celebrity relationships. Perhaps each complete year together should be celebrated! Twenty years of being part of the Wihan Quartet - from the time of their victory at the Prague Spring Competition - is indeed something very special and certainly worth celebrating. Today, the Wihan Quartet is the youngest of the internationally famous Czech Quartets. Their younger followers – Bennewitz, Haas and Zemlinsky (formerly Penguin) Quartets are starting to build their careers, as the Wihans did so many years ago, with much hard work.

In 1985 on entering the Prague Academy of Arts, Ales Kasprik was reponsible for forming the current Wihan Quartet by inviting his new fellow students, Leos Cepicky and Jiri Rehak, to form a quartet with him. They then only had to find a good second violin – a seemingly unattractive role, yet so important for the quality of any string quartet. They invited Jan Schulmeister, whose father was a renowned professor at the Kromeriz Conservatoire, to join them (A short time later Rehak‘s place was taken by Jiri Zigmund)

Antonín Kohout, the cellist of the Smetana Quartet and Professor of chamber music at HAMU (the Music faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) immediately sensed the potential of and high level of talent within the Wihan Quartet and using the carrot and stick approach, he coached the Wihans to victory at the prestigious Prague Spring Competition. Another victory a few years later, at the London International String Quartet Competition, confirmed the Quartet’s standing as one of the leading quartets of the younger generation and launched their international career. They now have over one thousand concerts under their belt and dozens of recordings of a wide range of repertoire.

On 7th December 2005, there was much to celebrate at the Rudolfinum in Prague: the final CD release in the complete cycle of Beethoven Quartets; the support and long-term friendship of so many British fans (the Quartet always plays to a sold-out Wigmore Hall) the loyalty of American and Japanese audiences, not to mention their huge success in many other countries. But of even more importance than the marking of twenty years together, was the celebration of the miraculous survival and recovery of the first violinist from a life-threatening accident in May 2004

At this concert, the Wihan Quartet created a feast of music of the greatest composers, playing pieces that are close to their hearts. They opened the programme with the life-blood of every string quartet – Haydn. They performed the second movement of the Emperor Quartet as it was meant to be heard – a lyrical song without the slightest hint of the later uncomfortable associations with the Austrian and German anthems. If Haydn only knew how historical events would harm his lovely melody! Already, in this first piece of the evening, the Wihan showed clearly that they are not in a rush to get anywhere. They took time to savour, underline and enrich every important harmonic detail, to draw out a melodic phrase and allow time for every tiny nuance, even in the dance-like movements, and to enrich the audence´s soul with their warm vibrato. However, they also demonstrated that they are perfectly capable of baring their virtuosic teeth when needed. Their fast, yet perfectly clear and pronounced playing took one’s breath away . Actually, one can´t imagine today´s quartets surviving without having such virtuosic technical skills and most members of current quartets could easily perform as soloists as well. This is the tough competition that young Czech quartets have to face today. The Wihans proved during this concert that they – unlike some of the younger quartets - don´t need to play fast and loud all the time. They allowed themselves time to enjoy the delightful rests in the 4th movement of the Haydn to maximum effect – although on this occasion there was no need to capture the attention of a babbling audience – probably Haydn´s original intention when inserting these silences.

The Wihans played Dvorák´s American quartet for what must have been the one thousand and first time, but despite this, they performed this work with a freshness as if for the first time. Their charismatic viola player, Jirí Zigmund, used every occasion offered him by Dvorák to draw the attention of the whole audience to the viola (something in his manner reminded me strongly of the legendary personality of the famous flautist “Count“ Géza Novák of the Czech Philharmonic) but the moment his solo finished, he integrated back into the Quartet and served them as devotedly as they did him.

A description of all the musical pleasures and delights offered us by the Wihans on this special evening would make this article far too long. So let us now only mention that the concert ended with Franz Schubert´s swan song, the revered Quintet in C major. The Wihan were joined by their English friend, cellist Jamie Walton, who blended in perfectly with their sound and vibrato. The sublime second movement made time stand still for us all.

May the Wihan Quartet continue for many years to come. Long live the Wihan!

December 05 - August 06

2006-03-31T13:42:00.000Z