Apollon Musagète Quartett, photos from press materials
The charismatic Polish string quartet will close the program of the 27th International Music Festival in Izmir with a programme of Josef Suk, Krzysztof Penderecki and Felix Mendelssohn.
The ensemble is among the world's leading young string quartets, appearing in exclusive venues all over the world. In 2012 and 2013, Apollon Musagete Quartett have performed at the opening concert of the Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice, Poland, at Carnegie Hall in New York City, at the Louvre in Paris and at London's renowned Wigmore Hall. This month they are the closing act of the celebration of one of the most important Turkish festivals – the 27th International Music Festival in Izmir.
The concert will begin with Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale Saint Wenceslas, op. 35 from Josef Suk, the Czech composer from the early 20th century. They then play Krzysztof Penderecki third and most recent string quartet, evocatively titled Notes from a Lost Diary and completed in 2008, an almost autobiographical piece referring to the composer's childhood with folk motives, for example Hutsul melodies. As the composer has stated,
Composing the quartet, I remembered a melody I had often heard from my father. I used this theme, which expanded in subsequent variations and almost took over the entire composition.
The evening will end with Felix Mendelsson’s String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, op. 13, written by the German composer in 1827 when he was only 18. He composed it under the influence of Beethoven's last quartet, in which the great composer asked the famous existential question ''Muss es sein?'' (Must this be?) Mendelssohn, for his part, asks "Ist es wahr?" (Is this true?)
Apollon Musagete Quartett was founded by four Polish musicians in Vienna in 2006. They won the 57th edition of the ARD Music Competition in Munich, and for 2012-2014 the musicians are part of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists, which allows them to give more concerts and record more often in the U.K. They recently recorded Bohuslav Martinů’s concerto for string quartet and orchestra with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London.
They released the album Multitude in June 2013 dedicated to three outstanding Polish composers - Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Krzysztof Penderecki,. It is an anniversary year for the three composers – Lutosławski’s centenary and the 80th birthdays of Górecki and Penderecki. The album comprises the recordings of their quartets, and their collaboration with Apollon Musagete Quartett.
A concert is announced for 2014, to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and Turkey. This particular moment provides an opportunity to remind audiences of the existing intellectual, commercial and historical relations between the two countries. For more information on the project, visit our website at: turkiye.culture.pl/en
Translation: LB 03/07/2013