Apollon Musagete Quartett. Photo: www.apollon-musagete.com
The amphitheatre of the Cité de la Musique in Paris hosts a concert starring the Polish string ensemble - Apollon Musagète Quartett. The four artists perform a selection of compositions by Beethoven, Veldhuis and Schubert
The event is a part of the European Rising Stars programme organised by the European network ECHO. The European Concert Hall Organisation, which the Cité de la Musique joined in 2004, promotes new and up-and-coming artists at important venue and events all over Europe.
The Polish ensemble was founded in Vienna in 2006 and only two years later won the First Prize and all Special Prizes in the String Quartet category at the 57th ARD International Music Competition in Munich. The Apollon Musagète Quartett features Paweł Zalejski on first violin,Bartosz Zachłod on second violin, Piotr Szumieł on viola and Piotr Skweres on cello. Within the course of only four years, the quartet established itself as one of the revelations of contemporary chamber music performers, and has won prizes at the International Chamber Music Competitions in Vienna and Florence, as well as numerous awards from such prominent foundations as Esterhazy Stiftung, Windisch Stiftung, Karl Klinger Stiftung and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Their performances have been broadcast on television in Poland, Germany, Slovakia and Austria. Their debut album was released by Oehms Classics in early 2010.
In 2009, ECHO selected AMQ to figure within the "Rising Stars" programme for the concert season 2010/11, which led to a number of opportunities for the ensemble to travel and appear a some of the most prestigious European venues. The has already performed at such stages as the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Herkulessaal in Munich, Gasteig and Wigmore Hall in London, the Teatro della Pergola or the Galleria della Accademia in Florence. AMQ also played at such major festivals as the Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival, the Bach Fest in Leipzig, the Festspielen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the String Quartet Festival Esterhazy and series of chamber music events all over Europe.
In the Summer of 2010, AMQ inaugurated its own festival in Goslar, Germany. The Apollon Musagete Festival, held between August 15 - 20, 2010, was organised in cooperation with the Internationales Musikfest Goslar Harz. Celebrating the anniversaries of Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin, the programme featured Schumann's string quartet and transcriptions of Chopin's piano works. The event also included performances of pieces by other composers such as Johannes Brahms and Johann Sebastian Bach.
In addition to classic string quartet repertoire, the ensemble also concentrates on contemporary music, especially works dedicated to the quartet. AMQ cites their inspiration as the mythological Apollo, the goddesses´ guide dancing with the muses, as the symbol of all kinds of art. The varied repertoire of the quartet, including world classical chamber music and a wide selection of Polish compositions, is also occasionally performed in collaboration with contemporary composers as well as prominent orchestras such as the Dresdner Philharmonie and the Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum.
The Apollon Musagète Quartett performs its latest concert on January 13, 2011 at the Amphitheatre of the Cité de la Musique in Paris.
Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven - String quartet nr. 4
Jacob ter Veldhuis - String quartet nr. 3 "There must be somewhere out of here"
Franz Schubert - String quartet nr. 14 in D Minor "Death and the Maiden"
The concert is co-organised by the Polish Institute in Paris.
Source:
The Polish Institute in Paris and
www.appolon-musagete.com