Concert Details
| Concert: | Concert with The Wihan Quartet |
| Date: | Sunday 21 November |
| Time: | 2:30pm |
| Tickets: | £16 |
| U18 Tickets: | £8 |
| Our second lot of friends from Prague, the wonderful Wihan Quartet, will be visiting to perform Mozart’s string quartet in D-minor K421, Mendelssohn’s quartet opus 80 and Dvorák’s string quartet No.12 known as The American – his most popular chamber work with lots of fantastic tunes! Pre-booked lunches available at £16 |
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Artiste Information
The Wihan Quartet, formed in 1985, are heirs to the great Czech musical tradition. The Quartet’s outstanding reputation for the interpretation of its native Czech heritage and of the many classical, romantic and modern masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire is widely acknowledged.
They have developed an impressive international career, which includes visits to major festivals in Europe and the Far East. They visit the United States and Japan regularly and have had highly acclaimed tours of Australia and New Zealand. They are frequent visitors to the UK and can often be heard on BBC Radio 3 as well as in concert at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, the South Bank and many other venues throughout the country.
The Wihan Quartet has won many International Competitions including The Prague Spring Festival and the Osaka ‘Chamber Festa’. In 1991, they won both the First Prize and the Audience Prize in the London International String Quartet Competition.
During 2008 the Quartet completed the first ever cycle of Beethoven Quartets in Prague and also repeated this cycle at Blackheath Halls, London. "Their unanimity of conception was admirably and readily apparent in the opening concert." (Musical Opinion) "This was an outstanding recital. The performance of the first of the expansive Razumovsky Quartets, Opus 59, was inspired and gripping from beginning to end." (Musical Pointers)
Their landmark series of Beethoven concerts in Prague was recorded for release on CD and DVD on the Nimbus Alliance label. The Independent Newspaper said of the release of the Late Quartets: "these [performances] are excellent: their fiery interpretations do full justice to Beethoven’s final masterpieces." and International Record Review "beautiful clarity....the Wihan’s capacity for lightness of touch well suits op.127....the Presto (op.131) is played with splendid vigour". Full details of the Quartet’s available recordings can be found on their website: www.wihanquartet.com.
The Wihan are Quartet in Residence at Trinity College of Music, London, and for several years have taught many of the UK’s gifted young Quartets at Pro Corda in Suffolk. The Quartet are great supporters of the work of the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust, giving inspirational concerts and master classes to young people in many parts of the country.
Michael Dussek is widely recognised as an exceptionally versatile and accomplished pianist. His performances and recordings have consistently received the highest critical praise. He has been described as “an outstanding artist” (BBC Music Magazine) and a “hugely respected pianist” (Classic FM Magazine”). International Record Review wrote that he is “clearly equally at home whether as a chamber musician or as a flamboyant concerto soloist.” Michael’s recording of York Bowen’s 1st Piano Concerto with Vernon Handley and the BBC Concert Orchestra was selected for Fanfare Magazine’s illustrious Hall of Fame of top classical recordings, joining British pianists Sir Clifford Curzon, Dame Myra Hess, Solomon and Stephen Hough.
Michael made his Wigmore Hall debut in 1980, where he was described as “a real find”. In 1981 his duos with his wife, cellist Margaret Powell and oboist Douglas Boyd were both winners of the Greater London Arts Association. Subsequently, as a member of three chamber ensembles, the Dussek Piano Trio, Endymion and Primavera, Michael has been privileged to work with many of Britain's finest instrumentalists, performing regularly in concert venues and festivals throughout the country and broadcasting frequently for BBC Radio 3. Recently he has collaborated with violinist Levon Chilingirian, violist Garfield Jackson, and with cellist Gemma Rosefield and violinist Leoš Cepický in Wigmore Hall recitals and at major festivals internationally, including the Prague Proms.
Michael has performed in many of the world's major concert halls, including London’s Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cadogan Hall, St John’s, Smith Square and Royal Opera House. As a member of Endymion he gave the opening recitals in Kings Place. Further afield he has played in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional, Osaka’s Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Centre, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and major venues in Beijing, Bergen, Bonn, Brussels, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Taipei, Toronto and Vienna.
