Program season 2016 - 2017

• TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 - PIANOTRIO Shaham, Erez, Wallfisch (England)
• TUESDAY 13 DECEMBER 2016 - QUATUOR ZAÏDE (France)
• TUESDAY 17 JANUARY 2017 - ATOS TRIO (Germany)
• TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2017 - PAVEL HAAS QUARTET (Czech Republic)
• TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017 - ORLANDO QUINTET (Netherlands)
• TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2017 - ARTEMIS QUARTET (Germany)

TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016
20.15 p.m.

PIANOTRIO Shaham, Erez, Wallfisch (England)

PROGRAM

“… utterly moving, as a result of a truly great modesty which cannot be replaced by simplicity or unpretentiousness; a modesty without any sentimentality. The musicians know, with minute precision, how to guard the boundary between the intimacy of chamber music and the sweeping grandeur of a large-scale concert, only achievable by artists whose capacities and experience are on an equally high level” Fonoforum

Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch was founded in 2009 and comprises three of the finest international instrumentalists performing today. As a soloist Hagai Shaham has performed with the world’s leading orchestras, including the English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, RTE Symphony Orchestra and the Taipei, Singapore and Shanghai orchestras. In September 1990, Hagai Shaham and his duo partner, Arnon Erez, won the first prize at the ARD International Music operation in Munich in the Violin-Piano duo category leading to highly acclaimed recitals throughout the world and a duo partnership which continues to this day.

Born in 1965, Arnon Erez is one of Israel’s leading pianists and an outstanding chamber musician. He has won several international competitions, including first prize at the Francois Shapira competition and has performed in major festivals and concert halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall, New York; Beethoven Halle, Bonn; Alte Oper, Frankfurt; Herkulessall, Munich; Musikverein, Vienna; the New Auditorium du Louvre in Paris; and London’s Wigmore Hall. As a soloist he has performed with many orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the SWF Symphony Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra and the Banff Festival Orchestra. He has given many recitals and recorded for radio and television in Germany, Austria, Holland, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and France.

Raphael Wallfisch was born in London into a family of distinguished musicians, his mother the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and his father the pianist Peter Wallfisch. At the age of twenty-four he won the Gaspar Cassado International Cello Competition in Florence. Since then he has enjoyed a worldwide career playing with the world’s greatest orchestras including London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, Halle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berlin Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic and many others. He is regularly invited to play at major festivals such as the BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Spoleto, Prades, Oslo and Schleswig Holstein. With a discography of over 70 discs on EMI, Chandos, Black Box, ASV, Naxos and Nimbus Raphael Wallfisch is one of the most recorded classical artists in the world.

Playing chamber music together at the Pablo Casals Prades Festival Hagai Shaham and Raphael Wallfisch recognised an immediate musical synergy. Arnon Erez joined them for trio concerts in Lucerne and the Netherlands later that year and the Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch was established. Since 2009 the Trio have performed, broadcast and recorded widely throughout Europe and Israel. The 14/15 season saw the trio touring the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, Israel, Spain and returning to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for two concerts. Amongst other recitals, the trio will perform at the Wigmore Hall in January 2016, give concerts in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland and Canada followed by further performances at the Concertgebouw and a return to the Wigmore Hall.

Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch enjoys a longstanding relationship with Nimbus Records with whom to date they have recorded the Mendelssohn piano trios, a disc of French repertoire and a disc of Russian repertoire. The release of their next and all-Brahms disc – which will include the piano trios as well as the Double Concerto with the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie – is planned in 2016.

Homepage: www.trioshahamerezwallfisch.com

EXPLANATORY NOTES (Dutch only)

TUESDAY 13 DECEMBER 2016
20.15 p.m.

QUATUOR ZAÏDE (France)

PROGRAM

As a young well-established quartet, the Quatuor Zaïde won several international quartet competitions, they are regularly invited in the best festivals and concert halls in the world and collaborate extensively with distinguished world wide known musicians. This year 2015, the quartet is celebrating its 5th year Anniversary !

So what is our story ?
In March 2012, Quatuor Zaïde completed a grand slam at the Vienna Haydn International Competition taking First Prize and all three special prizes.
In 2011, the quartet won 1st prize at the Beijing International Music Competition.
In 2010, only one year after it was formed, Quatuor Zaïde was awarded the International Press Prize by unanimous vote at the Bordeaux String Quartet International Competition, the 3rd Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition (Canada), 1st prize at the Charles Hennen International competition in the Netherlands and they also were the winner of the FNAPEC competition in Paris.

In five years, Quatuor Zaïde has already been invited to perform in such prestigious venues as London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Vienna’s Musikverein, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Cité de la Musique in Paris, Jordan Hall in Boston, Beijing Performing Arts Center, Bonn’s Beethovenfest, New York’s Merkin Hall, Biblioteca de Luiz Arango in Bogota, Aldeburgh Festival, Folle Journée Région, the International Classical Festival of Annecy. They have toured in Germany, the Netherlands, China, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Colombia and Greece.

In the 2015-2016 season, the quartet will return to some of these halls and play in Europe’s most prestigious halls, as they were nominated as ECHO Rising Stars. Each year, artistic directors of Europe’s top halls select a small group of artists considered the best in their fields to tour throughout the season in halls such as Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Barbican Centre, Paris’ Cité de la Musique, Cologne’s Philharmonie, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, Baden Baden’s Festspielhaus, Stockholm’s Konserthuset, Brussels’ BOZAR, Budapest’s Palace of Arts, Barecelona’s Auditori and Palau de la Musica, Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation, Athens’ Megaron, Birmigham’s Town Hall and City Hall, Newcastle’s Sage Gateshead.


Homepage: www.quatuorzaide.com

EXPLANATORY NOTES (Dutch only)

TUESDAY 17 JANUARY 2017
20.15 p.m.

ATOS TRIO (Germany)
with Shirley Brill, clarinet

PROGRAM

“Three voices – one sound” (Detroit Free Press): Annette von Hehn, Thomas Hoppe and Stefan Heinemeyer are the Berlin-based ATOS Trio, a leading light of the international chamber music circuit since 2003.

Praised for its warmth of sound, pitch-perfect unanimity of phrasing and dynamic interpretations, the Trio impresses both audiences and critics alike “... a true ensemble with an admirable fusion of voices and the gift of finding an expressive depth in their performances” (The Age, Melbourne). The ATOS Trio performs regularly at such venues as Carnegie Hall, New York; the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Wigmore Hall, London and also appears at noted festivals all over the world including Budapest Spring, Cheltenham, City of London, Enescu in Bucharest, Ludwigsburger Festspiele, Rheingau Musikfestival and Schleswig-Holstein.

Recordings include acclaimed CDs of repertoire by Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn, plus explorations of trios by Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Josef Suk and Leon Kirchner and, most recently, a celebration of modernistic French composers on The French Album as well as The Russian Album, featuring Rachmaninoff, Arensky and Shostakovich. A collection of awards and prizes includes America’s prestigious Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award and First Prize, Grand Prize, Musica Viva Tour Prize and Audience Prize all in the same year at the 5th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. The Trio became a BBC New Generation Artist 2009/11 and won a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Special Ensemble Award in 2012 which it used to support Heimathafen, a pioneering concert series in the Neukölln neighbourhood of Berlin.

Annette von Hehn plays the Yfrah Neaman Stradivari, kindly loaned by the Neaman Family, with help provided by Beare Fine Instrument Society London.

Homepage: www.atos-trio.de

Shirley Brill's career was launched with a performance as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. She has since performed with various international orchestras, such as the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester at the main hall of the Berliner Philharmonie, the Hamburger Symphoniker conducted by Jeffrey Tate, the Chamber Orchestra of Geneva and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Recently she has performed as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of the National Theater of Prague at the Kölner Philharmonie.

Ms. Brill is the winner of the Geneva International Competition in Switzerland (2007), the Markneukirchen International Competition in Germany (2006) as well as a special prize recipient at the International ARD Competition in Munich.

Shirley Brill has performed at international music festivals such as the BBC Proms in England, the Radio France Festival in Montpellier, the Schubertiade in Austria, the Davos Festival in Switzerland and the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival in Israel. In Germany, she gave performances at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Rheingau Festival, the Heidelberger Frühling and, most recently, at the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival.

Ms. Brill has collaborated with such artists as Daniel Barenboim, Sabine Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Janine Jansen, Tabea Zimmermann, the Jerusalem String Quartet and Trio di Clarone. She regularly performs with pianist Jonathan Aner as a member of the Brillaner Duo, playing in such prestigious halls as the Carnegie Hall in New York, Tonhalle Zürich, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.

After studying in Israel with Mr. Yitzhak Katzap, Ms. Brill continued her studies at the Musikhochschule Lübeck in Germany with Prof. Sabine Meyer and at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA with Mr. Richard Stoltzman.

Between 2012 and 2016 Shirley Brill was a professor at the Academy of Music “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.

Homepage: www.shirleybrill.com

EXPLANATORY NOTES (Dutch only)

TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY 2017
20.15 p.m.

PAVEL HAAS KWARTET (Czech Republic)

PROGRAM

Since winning the Paolo Borciani competition in Italy in Spring 2005, the Pavel Haas Quartet has established itself as one of the great chamber ensembles of today, performing at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and recording five award-winning CDs. Based in Prague, the Quartet studied with Milan Skampa, the legendary violist of the Smetana Quartet, and continues to enjoy a close relationship with him.

In the 2014/15 season the Quartet will perform a ‘Bohemia’ series in which they explore masterpieces of the Czech repertoire as well as lesser-known works and contemporary commissions at venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels and Auditorio Nacional Madrid. Guest artists joining them for this project are Bernarda Fink, Colin Currie and Nicholas Angelich. The Quartet will be Artists-in-Residence at the Bodensee Festival 2015 and will tour to Australia, Japan and Korea. They will appear in concerts at the Zurich Tonhalle, Munich Herkulessaal and Luxembourg Philharmonie and at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Verbier and Zeist festivals. Last season’s highlights included residencies at Cologne Philharmonie, Birmingham Town Hall and the Prague Spring Festival.

The Pavel Haas Quartet records exclusively with Supraphon. Their most recent recording, released in September 2013 and featuring Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor 'Death and the Maiden', as well as the String Quintet with Danjulo Ishizaka was awarded Best Chamber Music Record at the 2014 Gramophone Awards. Gramophone commented: “They represent the best qualities of the Czech tradition – warmth, sonorousness, individuality, intensity; but what’s striking here is their fearless risk-taking, their fervency and the absolute confidence with which they propel you through these two masterpieces.” TheTimes called them “the perfect fusion of virtuosity and profundity”, The Strad recommended the performances as “supreme… vivid and compelling”, BBC Music Magazine as “essential listening”, and Fonoforum a “blazingly vivid account of enthralling veracity”.

The quartet’s previous recording, a disc of Dvorák’s String Quartets No.12 in F major ‘American’ and No.13 in G major, was awarded the prestigious Record of the Year at the Gramophone Awards 2011. The Sunday Times awarded the recording five stars, commenting: “Their account of the ‘American’ Quartet belongs alongside the greatest performances on disc.” The quartet furthermore won the Diapason d’Or de l’Année in 2010 for its disc featuring Prokofiev’s String Quartets Nos 1 & 2, and its recording of Janácek’s Quartet No.2 'Intimate Letters' and Haas Quartet No.2 'From the Monkey Mountains' received a 2007 Gramophone Award. On their subsequent recording of the remaining string quartet works by Haas and Janácek, Gramophone commented: “To describe a CD as musically important is to court a certain level of controversy but I’ll stick my neck out and claim extreme importance for this particular release.”

In 2007, the Cologne Philharmonic nominated the Quartet as ECHO Rising Stars, resulting in a tour to major concert halls worldwide. The Quartet took part in the BBC New Generation Artists scheme between 2007-2009, and in 2010 it was awarded the Special Ensemble Scholarship of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.

The Quartet takes its name from the Czech composer Pavel Haas (1899-1944) who was imprisoned at Theresienstadt in 1941 and tragically died at Auschwitz three years later. His legacy includes three wonderful string quartets.

Homepage: www.pavelhaasquartet.com

EXPLANATORY NOTES (Dutch only)

TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017
20.15 p.m.

ORLANDO QUINTET (Netherlands)

PROGRAM

Flutist Marieke Schneemann, oboist Pauline Oostenrijk, clarinettist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer, horn player Ron Schaaper and bassoonist Bram van Sambeek: five Dutch top musicians who have built impressive careers. Soloists with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hague Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Wind Ensembleand The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Winners of major awards, including the Dutch Music Prize, an Edison Music Award, the Philip Morris Award and prizes in the GilletCompetition ,BorlettiBuitoni Trust Award. They hold prominent teaching positions at the Music Conservatories of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Tilburg. For a number of years they received individual invitations to perform at the Orlando Festival,until 2008 when they decided to form a quintet and adopt the name of the popular Festival.
However full these musicians’schedules may be, they always make time for the Orlando quintet: the endless possibilities that the combination of five wind instruments offers – each with its own sound nuances, articulation and expression, and the way the musicians know how to excite and enliven each other; the quintet is a constant source of inspiration! With their rich mix of sound, virtuosity, plentiful experience and boundless energy, they bring a radiance and life to both traditional and new wind quintet repertoire, as well as to quirky arrangements of great string quartets.

Homepage: www.orlandoquintet.nl

EXPLANATORY NOTES (Dutch only)

TUESDAY 11 APRIL 2017
20.15 p.m.

ARTEMIS KWARTET (Germany)

PROGRAM

„The interpretation of Artemis Quartet is not only technically on a par with the most virtuosic of their competitors – but it offers as well a higher musical intensity than all the others!“
Joachim Kaiser, Süddeutsche Zeitung

Berlin based Artemis Quartet was founded in 1989 at the University of Music Lübeck and is counted among the foremost worldwide quartet formations today. Important mentors have been Walter Levin, Alfred Brendel, the Alban Berg Quartet, the Juilliard Quartet and the Emerson Quartet.

Being awarded the first place in ARD competition in 1996 and six months later at ‚Premio Borciani’, made the quartet internationally successful. Yet the four initially followed an invitation of the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin in order to enhance their studies as an ensemble and to broaden them in an interdisciplinary exchange with renowned academics.

Artemis Quartet gives concerts for all great musical centres and international festivals in Europe, the United States, Asia, South America and Australia. Since 2004 the ensemble creates own cycles at the chamber music hall of Berlin Philharmonie, since 2011 at Wiener Konzerthaus (together with Belcea Quartet) and with the beginning of season 2016/2017 at Prince Regent Theatre Munich.

From the beginning the collaboration with musical colleagues has been a major inspiration for the ensemble. Thus, Artemis Quartet has toured with notable musicians such as Sabine Meyer, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Juliane Banse and Jörg Widmann. Various recordings document the artistic cooperation with several partners, for example the piano quintets by Schuhmann and Brahms with Leif Ove Andsnes, the Schubert quintet with Truls Mørk or Arnold Schönberg’s ’Verklärte Nacht’ with Thomas Kakuska and Valentin Erben from Alban Berg Quartet.

Since 2005 the Artemis Quartet exclusively records for Virgin, today Erato and can by now look back on a large discography. Their recordings have been repeatedly awarded the ’The German Record Critic’s Award’, the ’Gramophone Award’, the ’Diapason d’Or’ as well as the ’ECHO Klassik’. The entire recording of Beethoven’s quartets for strings was honoured with the important french ’Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros’ in 2011. Most recently released was a recording of creations of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in 2014 (ECHO Klassik) as well as – dedicated to Friedemann Weigle – the recording of Brahm’s quartets op. 51/1 and op. 67 in fall 2015 (The German Record Critic’s Award).

Not least to increase the awareness for what is new in the field of established music, the examination of contemporary music is always a significant part of the artistic work of the ensemble. Composers such as Mauricio Sotelo (2004), Jörg Widmann (2006), and Thomas Larcher (2008) wrote creations for Artemis Quartet. In 2014 a concert for strings and orchestra by Daniel Schnyder premiered in Frankfurt. The musicians launched their own contest for musical composition in 2015. Eduard Demetz was nominated the awardee in November 2015 and his string quartet Nr. 2 will receive its premiere in Berlin in the first half of 2016.

Besides their practice in concerts, the four musicians teach as professors at University of the Arts Berlin and Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth in Brussels.

After the tragic death of Friedemann Weigle in July 2015 Artemis Quartet restructured itself in the beginning of 2016 with Anthea Kreston at the second violin. Gregor Sigl took the position of the viola.

Homepage: www.artemisquartet.com

EXPLANATORY NOTES (Dutch only)