To be a quartet

There are four seasons during the year, four cardinal directions leading the way, four Moon phases control the seas, four colours inside a deck of cards, and four elements that make up the world – number four stands for order, stability, and the notion of completeness. The same magical power does the number four have in music. The four voices can lead a conversation, create a complete result, and still have the ability to let every single minuscule detail shine through. Quartets are to this day one of the most proven music formations, and it does not matter if the quartet is made up of string instruments, vocals, or any other group of instruments.

The fourth festival’s decade will kick off with several phenomenal quartets from around the world, introducing their country’s music in their own interpretation. You can not only look forward to world-class string quartets, but also to vocal, saxophone, clarinet, cello, and percussion – quartets showing off their mastery. Spectacular display of precision and bravery: to play in a quartet means to deal with proximity to others, to respect differences, and to create harmony – concetus. Quartet is not only music but a relationship.

This year‘s edition, with the programme “To be a quartet”, will succeed two successful festival editions that were focused solely on string quartets: Jiří Beneš and Aleš Březina in 2016, and their “Shakespeare, Beethoven, and the tradition of Czech quartets” as the 21st edition, and Barbara Maria Willi and Tully Potter in 2019, created The Concert of Nations as the 24th edition. This edition has twice as many dramaturges: Peter Jarůšek, Pavel Nikl, Simone Gramaglia, and David Dittrich. Together, they are a team full of experience and brilliance. The first three gentlemen are maestros of chamber music with worldwide recognition. Completing them is David Dittrich, who has decades worth of knowledge in running music festivals and concerts. The final product of their endeavour is a display of the absolute best ensembles that the quartet scene has to offer. The festival kicks off on May 28th and will be brimming with quality all the way through to the edition’s final, taking place on June 26th. Performances taking place in more than twenty towns and cities of Southern Moravia, Vysočina, and Lower Austria, with rare trips to the regions of Olomouc and Zlín.

The festival’s ensemble in residence is the Pavel Haas Quartet, which also will mark the beginning of the 31st edition on May 28th in the historical hall of the Chateau in Austerlitz. The famous Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 called “American”, will resonate in the beauteous hall. Following this masterpiece will be the only String Quartet from the phenomenal female composer Vítězslava Kaprálová, who sadly passed away in the first half of the 20th century at the age of mere 25.

The dramaturgy of the 31st edition is built around each quartet’s national repertoire, meaning the work of composers who are culturally and historically linked to the country from which the quartets originate. The audience can look forward to an authentic and masterful interpretation of both famous and lesser-known compositions made for quartets. The majority of quartets do have all their members from one country. The two quartets, whose musicians are from multiple countries, will perform a programme from around the world.

Besides the residential ensemble, the Pavel Haas Quartet, there will be performing the absolute cream of the crop of the current quartet scene: Brooklyn Rider, Calidore Quartet, Schumann Quartet, Chiaroscuro Quartet, Quartetto di Cremona, Doric String Quartet, Danel Quartet, Leonkoro Quartet, Modigliani Quartet, Meta4, Apollon Musagete Quartet, Vision String Quartet, Bennewitz Quartet, and Zemlinsky Quartet. Completing the string quartets, are the rising stars: Quatuor Diotima, Fibonacci Quartet, Josef Suk Quartet a Opus13, the latter quartet won their opportunity to perform on our Festival in the renowned Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition as one of the prizes for the absolute winners. This is a part of a new cooperation between our festival and the competition. To top everything of we would like to introduce the non-string quartets: Trio Bohémo with the viola player Avri Levitan, BL!NDMAN as the saxophone quartet, and vocal quartet Graindelavoix.

The dramaturgic team did not forget to bring some overarching performances to different genres. The German Vision String Quartet will show its second face. The beloved Epoque Quartet and Clarinet Factory will make their comebacks. The Cello Republic and the unique British percussion Colin Currie Quartet will make their festival debuts. Cello player Ivan Vokáč, with a jazz trio KBŠ, will form a quartet for this occasion.

Through the festival’s duration, there will be a number of soloists enriching the quartets: Viola player Pavel Nikl, cello players Peter Jarůšek and Lukáš Mareček, Boris Giltburg and David Mareček on piano, clarinet player Karel Dohnal, Tomáš Františ on bassoon, French horn player Přemysl Vojta, double bass player Petr Ries, and female singer Dasha. On the closing ceremonial concert, the Zemlinsky Quartet will perform with the stellar soprano Simona Šaturová.

There will also be a piece created purely for our festival. The String Quartet No.4 from Zemek-Novák for the Suk Quartet.

Simultaneously with the concerts, the festival is preparing a rich parallel programme. Masterclasses will take place in Kroměříž for promising up-and-coming quartets. This will offer an inspirational meeting with maestros. Spectators are allowed to check out the process of masterclasses. Another traditional event is Music on a Bicycle, which connects music, landscape, and cycling in the picturesque Lednice- Valtice Cultural Landscape area. The festival is also accompanied by an exhibition of fine art, “How was life in the Janáček‘s family” of Vendula Chalánková in the compound OSMEK in Přerov.

the dramaturgic team (from left): Simone Gramaglia, David Dittrich, Peter Jarůšek, Pavel Nikl 
photo: Anežka Doleželová