The casalQuartet – Music of Sibelius, Pärt and Nielsen – Kulturhaus, Lüdenscheid – December 20, 2015 – WDR –
Concerts from Germany this week. A performance by The casalQuartet, recorded at the Kulturhaus, Lüdenscheid Germany on December 20, 2015 and broadcast by WDR, Cologne.
On the program is the Sibelius String Quartet in D Minor “Voces Intimae” op 56 – followwed by “Fratres” by Arvo Pärt and concluding with the String Quartet in G Minor op. 13 by Carl Nielsen.
The casalQuartet (their spelling, perhaps because there is a Casals Quartet which even Google got confused by) consists of; Felix Froschhammer, violin – Rachel Rosina Späth, violin – Markus Fleck, viola and Andreas Fleck, cello.
Founded in 1996, the casalQuartet’s formal training took place under the watchful eyes of the Carmina Quartet in Zurich, the Alban Berg in Cologne and Walter Levin in Basel.
The quartet has also benefited greatly from performing with musicians such as Martha Argerich, Khatia Buniatishvili, Oliver Schnyder, Nikolaj Znaider, Patricia Kopatchinskaya, Sol Gabetta, Clemens Hagen, Emma Kirkby, Christiane Oelze, Christoph Prégardien, Giora FeidmanMaurice Steger and others.
The casalQuartet has performed over 1.300 concerts in many parts of the world. (e.g. Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival, Beethoven-Fest Bonn, Styriarte Graz, Rheingau Festival, Konzerthaus Berlin, Tonhalle Zürich, Les Muséiques Basel, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Lucerne Festival, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Festival Lockenhaus, Satori Hall Tokyo, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Festspielhaus Bregenz, Konzerthaus Wien etc.)
Immediacy with its audiences, the integration of colleagues from other artistic disciplines, and concept oriented programming are all equally important to the quartet’s vision – which it promulgates at its three festivals in Switzerland. The four musicians see the string quartet as one of the most versatile genres in music, equally successful in its journeys to the 17th century, to Tango Nuevo, jazz and the newest works of today, and well adapted to extending previous programming boundaries by the inclusion of theatre, dance and literature.
Good concert, great repertoire and a dead-silent audience – perfect Anti-Road Rage Wednesday ingredients.
Turn it up and enjoy.
