|
Friday,
July
5th
2002
Alban
Berg
Quartet
Günter
Pichler
-
Violin
Gerhard
Schulz
-
Violin
Thomas
Kakuska
-
Viola
Valentin
Erben
-
Violoncello
For
thirty
years
the
Alban
Berg
Quartet
has
performed
regularly
in
music
capitals
and
major
festivals
throughout
the
world.
They
have
their
own
concert
series
at
the
Vienna
Konzerthaus
where
they
made
their
debut
in
1971.
Now
they
are
Honorary
Members
at
the
Royal
Festival
Hall
London,
at
the
Opera
Zurich,
at
the
Theatre
des
Champs-Elysées
in
Paris,
at
the
Cologne
Philharmonie
and
at
the
Alte
Oper
Frankfurt.
Since
they
were
founded,
the
Alban
Berg
Quartet
have
been
prolific
recording
artists
and
have
received
over
thirty
major
international
awards
including
the
Grand
Prix
du
Disque,
the
Deutsche
Schallplattenpreis,
the
Edison
Prize,
the
first
International
Classical
Music
Award,
the
Japan
Grand
Prix
and
the
Gramophone
Magazine
Award.
Many
of
these
recordings
are
regarded
as
definitive
by
public
and
critics
alike.
Among
their
many
recording
projects
have
been
the
complete
quartets
by
Beethoven,
Brahms,
Berg,
Webern
and
Bartok,
the
complete
late
Mozart
and
late
Schubert
quartets,
Haydn,
Dvorak,
Schumann,
Ravel,
Debussy,
Stravinsky,
von
Einem
and
Haubenstock-Ramati,
as
well
as
live
recordings
from
the
Carnegie
Hall,
New
York,
the
Opera
Comique
in
Paris,
the
Queen
Elizabeth
Hall
in
London
and,
particularly,
from
the
Konzerthaus
in
Vienna.
Following
their
original
Beethoven
cycle
recorded
in
the
studio
some
years
ago,
the
live
recording
of
their
Beethoven
cycle
at
the
Konzerthaus
during
the
Vienna
Festival
in
1989
has
been
released
on
CD
and
video.
The
quartet
has
also
made
live
recordings
of
works
by
Janacek,
Lutoslawski,
Berio,
Schnittke,
Urbanner
and
Rihm
(most
of
which
are
dedicated
top
the
Alban
Berg
Quartet),
as
well
as
the
Dvorak
Piano
Quintet
(with
Rudolf
Buchbinder),
Schubert’s
late
quartets,
Brahms’
Clarinet
Quintet
and
String
Quintet
op.
111,
and
Mozart’s
Piano
Quartet
in
E
flat
major
and
Piano
Quintet
KV
414
with
Alfred
Brendel,
the
quartets
op.
51
and
op.
106
of
Dvorak
and,
most
recently,
also
live,
Mendelssohn’s
quartets
op.
12
and
op.
13.
Press
reviews
for
the
Alban
Berg
Quartet
confirm
their
reputation:
"Certainly
one
of
the
greatest
ensembles
in
chamber
music"
(France
Soir,
Paris),
"Stunning
perfection"
(Washington
Post),
"One
of
the
great
ensembles
of
our
time"
(San
Francisco
Chronicle),
"A
wonder
by
the
name
of
the
Alban
Berg
Quartet"
(Presse,
Vienna),
"Few
if
any
quartets
can
match
their
strength
and
assurance
in
the
Viennese
classics
and
romantics"
(Times),
"The
Alban
Berg
Quartet
have
achieved
legendary
standards
in
chamber
music
playing"
(Frankfurter
Allgemeine
Zeitung),
"The
Alban
Berg
Quartet
overwhelms
with
Beethoven"
(J.
Kaiser,
Süddeutsche
Zeitung).
More
important
to
the
quartet
than
the
superlative
praise
in
the
press
and
the
enthusiasm
of
the
public
is
their
self-appointed
mission
of
giving
the
most
harmonious
interpretation
of
the
works
they
perform
and
of
extending
their
repertoire
from
the
classical
to
the
avant-garde,
so
the
name
"Alban
Berg"
symbolizes
this
commitment.
The
Alban
Berg
Quartet
also
take
responsability
for
the
training
of
young
musicians,
they
are
all
professors at
the "Universitat
fur
Musik
und
darstellende
Kunst"
in
Vienna
and
since
1993
also
at
the
"Musikhochschule
fur
Musik"
in
Cologne
as
successors
of
the
Amadeus
Quartet,
and
they
are
as
dedicated
to
this
task
as
they are
to
their
own
musical
work
and
performance.
Programme
Mozart
Quatuor
KV
589
Bartok
Quatuor
Nr.
4
Beethoven
Quatuor
op.
59/3 |
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