Artemis Quartet (Germany) – Beethoven Cycle Concert 3

Saturday, February 27, 2010, 8:00 PM, St. John’s Episcopal Church

Program:

Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2, “Compliments”

Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, “Serioso”

Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127

www.melkap.com/view-artist/10/Artemis_Quartet

Tickets are available for purchase!

About the Artemis Quartet

Natalia Prischepenko and Gregor Sigl, violins
Friedemann Weigle, viola
Eckart Runge, cello

High praise comes from a discriminating voice.  In a review of the Artemis Quartet, the influential German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that while there are many good string quartets performing, among the very good quartets playing internationally “the Artemis ensemble is the best.”  The reason: “Ranging from Beethoven to Ligeti, their performances overflow with fullness of sound, delineated structure and unparalleled drama.”

The Berlin-based Artemis Quartet was founded at the Lübeck Musikhochschule in 1989.  Walter Levin, the Emerson Quartet, the Juilliard Quartet, and the Alban Berg Quartet have been and remain important teachers and mentors for the Quartet.  Since 1994, the four players have performed as a professional ensemble, quickly gaining a reputation as one of the leading ensembles of their generation.  Their international stature was established by winning First Prizes at the ARD Competition in 1996 and soon thereafter First Prize at the Borciani Competition.  Rather than dive headfirst into the tempting fast track of career success, the members of the Artemis Quartet instead immersed themselves in further study.  In 1998, the ensemble spent a year in residence with the Alban Berg Quartet in Vienna followed by a three month sabbatical at Berlin’s Wissenschaftskolleg.  Their June 1999 debut at the Berlin Philharmonie marked the formal start of their career.

A new phase of the chamber group’s life began in July 2007 with Gregor Sigl and Friedemann Weigle becoming members of the string quartet.  Their first appearances with their two new members included performances at the Salzburg Festival, the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, the Rheingau Musik Festival as well as Septembre Musical Montreux-Vevey.

Since 2004, the quartet’s series of concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie has met with high praise from critics and audiences alike.  In addition to their busy schedule of concerts at all the most important concert venues in Europe, the U.S., Japan, South America and Australia, and numerous appearances at international festivals, the Artemis Quartet is also committed to teaching.

From the outset, the Artemis Quartet has placed a high value on the importance of collaboration.  Most recently they were on a concert tour with European sensations Juliane Banse, Truls Mørk and Leif Ove Andsnes.  Additionally, intensive study of contemporary music is also an important focus within the quartet’s repertoire.  Composers such as Mauricio Sotelo (2004), Jörg Widmann (2006), and Thomas Larcher (2008) have composed works for the Artemis Quartet.

In recognition of the ensemble’s contribution to the interpretation of Beethoven’s music, the Verein des Beethoven-Hauses Bonn conferred honorary membership to the Artemis Quartet in 2003.  In 2004, the Quartet won the 23rd “Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana” in Siena, Italy.  In 2005, the Artemis Quartet signed an exclusive recording contract with Virgin Classics/EMI which will ultimately result in at least ten recordings over a period of five years.  Most recently a CD featuring string quartets by Janácek and Dvorák was released, followed in September 2007 with a new recording of Brahms and Schumann piano quintets with Leif Ove Andsnes.  The first recording with the newest members of the ensemble was a CD of works by Schubert including the Quintet for Two Cellos with Truls Mørk.  In May 2009, the Quartet will release The Piazzolla Project, a CD of Astor Piazzolla’s works transcribed for string quartet by Eckart Runge and composer Jacques Ammon.

Recordings by the Artemis Quartet previously on the Ars Musici label and now on Virgin Classics/EMI have been awarded the German Record Critics’ Award (Deutscher Schallplattenpreis) and Diapason d’Or.  In October 2006, the Artemis Quartet’s recording of Beethoven’s Opus 95 and Opus 59, No. 1, was awarded Germany’s definitive Echo Klassik award for “Chamber Music Recording of the Year.”