Concert Details
| Concert: | Concert with The Martinu String Quartet |
| Date: | Sunday 24 October |
| Time: | 2:30pm |
| Tickets: | £16 |
| U18 Tickets: | £8 |
| Our friends from Prague return to perform string quartets by Haydn, Janácek and Schumann – his string quartet in A-minor. The Haydn piece will be his quartet opus 76 No.2. Janácek’s second quartet was written in 1928 and has the ambiguous subtitle of Intimate Letters. It is one of the greatest works ever written and to hear it be performed by a native Czech quartet is surely an opportunity not to miss. Pre-booked suppers available at £19 |
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Artiste Information
Martinu Quartet was founded in 1976 at the Prague Conservatory in the class of Prof.Viktor Moucka, a member of the Vlach Quartet. During the study at AMU (Academy of Music) under the leadership of Prof.Antonín Kohout, a member of the Smetana Quartet, they started a successful career under the name of Havlák Quartet and received many awards respectfully. Among them was the special prize of 1990 Czech Chamber Music Society as well the prize of Bohuslav Martinu with special emphasis of Martinu's chamber music. At the same time they gained valuable experience from active workshops with renowned quartet ensembles (Tel Aviv Quartet, Amadeus Quartet, Guarneri Quartet, Julliard Quartet and others ). They participated in eight international competitions with the result of eight awards with seven laureate titles, the most notable being in Portsmouth (Great Britain), ARD (Munich), Evian (France) and Prague Spring. In 1985 the ensemble, with the approval of the Bohuslav Martin? Society , took the name of Martinu Quartet, while pledging to promote Martinu's chamber music.
They have appeared all over Europe and have made regular tours of the USA, Canada, Spain, Japan and England. They have been heard at festivals, including Brighton, Warwick, Leamington, Bath, the City of London Festival, the Orlando Festival in Netherlands, Kuhmo in Finland and other venues in Sweden, Paris, Frankfurt-Mohan, Wigmore Hall in London, the Paris Opera de la Bastille, the Berlin Schauspielhaus, as well in mid-European festival at Europa-Musicale in Munich. The Martinu Quartet is a regular guest at The Prague Spring Festival.
They have recorded complete seven Martinu's string quartets for the NAXOS label. In 2003 they released the works of Bodorová (Terezín Ghetto Requiem) and Stevenson which received an award of the CD of the Month on internet of British MW Classical Music Web. In 2004 they received respectful award MIDEM in Cannes as a best CD of the year in the solo/ensemble repertoire of 20th Century.
The Martinu Quartet boasts a broad repertoire, with special emphasis on Czech chamber music. Apart from many recordings for Czech Radio, Radio France, BBC, ARD, ORF, the Martinu Quartet appears on the recording labels Naxos. Harmonia Mundi, Panton, Romantic Robot, Arco Diva, Studio Matouš and others.
Lubomir Havlak (violin) studied violin at Prague Conservatory and Academy of Music in Prague in classes of Prof.Vladimír Rejšek and Antonín Moravec. Recipient of first prize from the Czechoslovak Conservatories competition he gained another award of C.Flesch in London as well. In 1983 Havlák paricipated in interpretation of courses by Nathan Mílstein in Zurich. His performance of violin concertos by A. Dvorák and J.Brahms in Rudolfinum Hall represented the culminating point of his graduation.He is a founder of Havlák Quartet which, after 10 years, was renamed as Martinu Quartet.Beside chamber music activity he is periodically teaching pedagogy and directing the chamber orchestras. As a soloist his numerous recordings are connected with the Czech Radio.
Libor Kanka (violin) Came from a Prague musical family. At the age of five he started to study violin under his father's tutelage and as a youngster he participated actively in chamber music with his brothers. He graduated from Prague Conservatory where he studied with prof. K. Pribyl and later with prof. J. Vlach at the Academy of Music. In 1976 he became a founder of Havlak Quartet (later Martinu Quartet) with whom he received laureate awards in several international competitions. Since 1992 he has been a member of the Orchestra Virtuosi di Praga and also of the Prague Chamber Orchestra with whom he has performed all aver the world.
Zbynek Padourek(viola) started to study violin at Pilsen Conservatory and went on to study at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Prague. He graduated as a violist in 1992 and a year later joined Kocian Quartet. Since 2003 he has taught at Pilsen Conservatory and joined Martinu Quartet in 2010. He has cooperated for many years with some great Czech chamber ensembles, as the Talich quartet, Pražák Quartet, Czech nonet and Kocian Quartet.
Jitka Vlašánková (violoncello) won the first prize in the national competition of the Music Schools in 1975. Later, she attended the Conservatory and the Academy of Music in Prague under Professors R.Lojda, S.Vectomov and Miloš Sádlo. She took master classes with outstanding world-famous cellists (e.g. A.Navarra, E.Rautio or B.Greenhouse and R.Garbousova at the Piatigorski Seminar in Los Angeles) and was granted a British council scholarship to study under W.Pleeth in London. Although most of her professional life was been devoted to the Martinu Quartet Jitka Vlašánková gives solo recitals in her country as well as abroad and records for the Czech Radio (eg. cellosonatas by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Franck, Chopin).
