Belcea Quartet

String Quartet

Corina Belcea
Violin
Suyeon Kang
Violin
Krzysztof Chorzelski
Viola
Antoine Lederlin
Cello
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Biography

"The most striking thing […] was its spirit of freedom"
Passion, coupled with precision, unheard-of expressivity and pure emotion characterize the concerts of the Belcea Quartet. With the Romanian violinist Corina Belcea, the Korean-Australian Suyeon Kang on second violin, the Polish violist Krzysztof Chorzelski and the French cellist Antoine Lederlin, four different artistic provenances meet and unite to create unique excellence.
„[…] the purity of tone and pitch that distinguished the ensemble from the outset remains a hallmark of its work.”The London Times, March 2020
The ensemble’s repertoire spans Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven to Bartok, Janacek to Szymanowski. They also continue to introduce new works by current composers to the audience such as Guillaume Connesson (2023), Joseph Phibbs (2018), Krzysztof Penderecki (2016), Thomas Larcher (2015) and Mark-Anthony Turnage (2014 & 2010). A new work by Julian Anderson will be premiered this season. These commissioned works are created in association with the Belcea Quarte Trust, the quartet's own foundation, whose aim is to continually broaden the string quartet literature as well as to support young quartets through concentrated joint coaching sessions. In this way they can also pass on to the next generation the experience they gained as students of the Amadeus & Alban Berg Quartet.

In addition to the complete recordings of the String Quartets by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms (Diapason d'or de l'année 2016) and Britten, the quartet’s wide-ranging discography includes works by Berg, Dutilleux, Mozart, Schoenberg, Schubert, Shostakovich, Janáček & Ligeti (among others). In spring 2022, Alpha Classics released the two String Sextets by Brahms performed with Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras.
Their performances of all Beethoven String Quartets at the Konzerthaus Vienna in 2012 were released on DVD by EuroArts in 2014, followed by the release of a recording of Britten's three String Quartets in 2015.

From 2017 to 2020, the quartet held the prestigious position of Ensemble in Residence at the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin. Since then, they have performed there regularly. In addition, the Belcea Quartet has been part of a shared String Quartet series at the Vienna Konzerthaus since 2010. Beginning last season, Quatuor Ébène became their partner ensemble here.

This season, the Belcea Quartet will be making guest appearances at the three prominent European String Quartet biennials in Paris, Lisbon, and Amsterdam. In addition, they will be performing at various esteemed venues including Carnegie Hall New York City, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Flagey Brussels, National Concert Hall Dublin, Tonhalle Zurich, and Toppan Hall Tokyo.

Instruments
Corina Belcea
Violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1755), kindly on loan from MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna

Suyeon Kang
custom-made violin by Julia Maria Pasch

Krzysztof Chorzelski
Viola by Nicola Amati (ca. 1670)

Antoine Lederlin
Cello by Matteo Gofriller (1722), kindly on loan from MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna
„No other recent performances surpass these for their mellifluous blend of sound and the naturalness with which the six players allow the music to flow, not too emphatic, but always giving the music its full weight and significance. The music glows, as Brahms surely intended it should.”Financial Times, March 2022
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.
Contacts: Linda Uschinski, Ramona Wiener

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Programme

2024 / 2025

You’ll find the current programs in the IMPRESARIUM of the 24/25 season

2023 / 2024

Schedule

14/04/2024
11:00 h
Theatre Gare du Nord
Basel, Switzerland
18/04/2024
20:15 h
De Vereeniging
Nijmegen, Netherlands
21/04/2024
11:00 h
Belcea Quartet, Nicolas Altstaedt
05/05/2024
18:00 h
Konzerthaus Dortmund
Dortmund, Germany
Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
06/05/2024
19:30 h
Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
07/05/2024
19:30 h
Wigmore Hall
London, United Kingdom
Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
08/05/2024
20:00 h
Residenz, Herkulessaal
München, Germany
Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
10/05/2024
19:30 h
Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
11/05/2024
20:00 h
De Singel
Antwerpen, Belgium
Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
12/05/2024
17:00 h
Tonhalle (Kleiner Saal)
Zürich, Switzerland
Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
22/05/2024
19:30 h
Quatuor Ébène, Belcea Quartet
23/05/2024
19:30 h
Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène
24/05/2024
19:30 h
Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène
26/05/2024
20:00 h
Kölner Philharmonie
Köln, Germany
Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène
27/05/2024
19:30 h
Champs Hill Music Room
West Sussex RH20 1LY, United Kingdom
Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène
28/05/2024
19:30 h
Wigmore Hall
London, United Kingdom
Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène
29/05/2024
20:15 h
Concertgebouw (Kleine Zaal)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Belcea Quartet, Quatuor Ébène
15/06/2024
19:00 h
Stift Wilhering, Stiftskirche
Wilhering, Austria
https://www.stiftskonzerte.at/programm-und-karten/belcea-quartet/
16/06/2024
20:00 h
Angelika-Kauffmann-Saal
Schwarzenberg, Austria
Belcea Quartet
27/06/2024
19:00 h
Salvia Hall
Kanagawa, Yokohama, Japan
Belcea Quartet
28/06/2024
19:00 h
Toppan Hall
Tokyo, 112-0005, Japan
Belcea Quartet
30/06/2024
14:00 h
Belcea Quartet
19/08/2024
19:30 h
Mozarteum, Großer Saal
Salzburg, Austria
Belcea Quartet

Discography

The complete Warner Classics Edition 2000 - 2009
Album I
DEBUSSY, DUTILLEUX & RAVEL String Quartets

Album II
SCHUBERT String Quartets Nos. 13 “Rosamunde”, 12 “Quartettsatz” & 10

Album III
BRAHMS String Quartet No. 1 · String Quintet No. 2

Album IV
BRITTEN String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 · 3 Divertimenti

Album V
BRITTEN String Quartet No. 3 · FAURÉ La bonne chanson · BARBER & BUTTERWORTH Songs

Album VI
SCHUBERT Piano Quintet “The Trout”

Album VII
MOZART String Quartets Nos. 19 “Dissonance” & 20 “Hoffmeister”

Album VIII
BARTÓK String Quartets Nos. 1, 3 & 5

Album IX
BARTÓK String Quartets Nos. 2, 4 & 6

Album X
SCHUBERT String Quintet · String Quartet No. 15 (I.)

Album XI
SCHUBERT String Quartets Nos. 15 (II-IV.) & 14 “Death and the Maiden”

Belcea Quartet
Corina Belcea, violin
Laura Samuel, violin (Album 1-5, 7-11)
Krzystof Chorzelski, viola
Alasdair Tait, cello (Album 1-7)
Antoine Lederlin, cello (Album 8-11)

with Thomas Kakuska, viola · Valentin Erben, cello · Thomas Adès, piano · Corin Long, double bass
Ian Bostridge, tenor · Jonathan Lemalu, bass-baritone

Janáček & Ligeti: Quartets
Leoš Janáček
String Quartet No. 1 `Kreutzer Sonata`
String Quartet No. 2 `Intimate Letters`

György Ligeti
String Quartet No. 1 `Métamorphoses Nocturnes`

Shostakovich: String Quartet & Piano Quintet
Dmitri Shostakovich
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 73
Piano Quintet, Op. 57

Piotr Anderszewski - Piano

Brahms: The complete String Quartets & Piano Quintet
Johannes Brahms
String Quartet, Op. 51 No. 1
String Quartet, Op. 51 No. 2

String Quartet, Op. 67 No. 3
Piano Quintet, Op. 34

Till Fellner - Piano

Webern - Berg - Schönberg
Anton Webern
Slow Movement
Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5

Alban Berg
Lyric Suite for String Quartet

Arnold Schönberg
Transfigured Night, Op. 4

Nicolas Bone - Viola
Antonio Meneses - Cello

Britten: The complete String Quartets (DVD or Blu-ray Disc)
Benjamin Britten
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 25
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 36
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94

Beethoven: The complete String Quartets (DVD or Blu-ray Disc)
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartets Nos 1-16

Beethoven: The complete String Quartets
Ludwig van Beethoven
Disc No. 1
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 6
String Quartet, Op. 127
Disc No. 2
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 2
String Quartet, Op. 59 No. 3
Disc No. 3
String Quartet, Op. 95
String Quartet, Op. 131
Disc No. 4
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 1
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 4
Disc No. 5
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 3
String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 5
Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
Disc No. 6
String Quartet, Op. 59 No. 1
String Quartet, Op. 59 No. 2
Disc No. 7
String Quartet, Op. 74
String Quartet, Op. 130
Disc No. 8
String Quartet, Op. 132
String Quartet, Op. 135

Schubert: String Quartets & String Quintet
Franz Schubert
String Quintet, D 956
String Quartet No. 15, D 887
String Quartet No. 14, D 810, "Death and The Maiden"

Valentin Erben - Cello

Bartók: The complete String Quartets
Béla Bartók
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7 Sz 40
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 17 Sz 67
String Quartet No. 3, Sz 80
String Quartet No. 4, Sz 91
String Quartet No. 5, Sz 102
String Quartet No. 6, Sz 114

Mozart: String Quartets
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet, K 465
String Quartet, K 499

EMI Classics, 2006

Love blows as the wind blows
Roger Quilter
Four Shakespeare Songs, Op. 30
Who is Silvia?
When daffodils begin to peer
How should I your true love know?
Sigh no more, ladies

Samuel Barber
Dover Beach (to words from a Victorian poem by Matthew Arnold)

Benjamin Britten
Tit for Tat
A Song of Enchantment
Silver
Tit for Tat

Richard Rodney Bennett
Songs before Sleep
The Mouse and the Bumblebee (anon.)
Baby, baby, naughty baby (anon.)
As I walked by myself (attrib. Bernard Barton 1780-1840)

John Ireland
Santa Chiara - Palm Sunday; Naples
When lights go rolling round the sky

George Butterworth
Love blows as the wind blows
I In the year that's come and gone
II Life in her creaking shoes
III Fill a glass with golden wine

Gerald Finzi
Let us garlands bring - Five Shakespeare songs for Voice and Piano

William Bolcom
from Cabaret Songs
Song of Black Max (As told by the de Kooning Boys)
George
Waitin

Jonathan Lemalu - Bass baritone
Malcolm Martineau - Piano

EMI Classics, 2006

Britten: The complete String Quartets
Benjamin Britten
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 25
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 36
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94
Three Divertimenti for String Quartet (1936)

EMI Classics, 2005

Mélodies Françaises
Claude Debussy
"Fêtes galantes"

Gabriel Fauré
4 Songs, Op. 39: Fleur jetée
3 Songs, Op. 23: Les berceaux
Au bord de l'eau, Op. 81 No. 1
2 Songs, Op. 83: Prison
Clair de lune, Op. 46 No. 2
3 Songs, Op. 18: Nell

Francis Poulence
Montparnasse (Apollinaire)
Deux poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, Op. 94: Dans le jardin d'Anna
Deux poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, Op. 94: Allons plus vite
Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon: C
Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon: Fêtes galantes
Tel jour, telle nuit: Bonne journée
Tel jour, telle nuit: Une ruine coquille vide
Tel jour, telle nuit: Le front comme un drapeau perdu
Tel jour, telle nuit: Une roulotte couverte en tuiles
Tel jour, telle nuit: A toutes brides
Tel jour, telle nuit: Une herbe pauvre
Tel jour, telle nuit: Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer
Tel jour, telle nuit: Figure de force brûlante et farouche
Tel jour, telle nuit: Nous avons fait la nuit

Gabriel Fauré
"La bonne chanson"

Ian Bostridge - Tenor
Leon Bosch - Double bass
Julius Drake - Piano

EMI Classics, 2004

Brahms: String Quartet & String Quintet
Johannes Brahms
String Quartet, Op. 51 No. 1
String Quintet, Op. 111

Thomas Kakuska - Viola

EMI Classics, 2004

Schubert: String Quartets
Franz Schubert
String Quartet No. 13, Op. 29, D 804, "Rosamunde"
String Quartet No. 10, Op. 125, D 87

EMI Classics, 2003

French Music
Claude Debussy
String Quartet, Op. 10

Henri Dutilleux
String Quartet "Ainsi la Nuit"

Maurice Ravel
String Quartet in F major

EMI Classics, 2001

Janáček: The complete String Quartets
Leoš Janáček
String Quartet No. 1, "The Kreutzer Sonata"
String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"

Videos

Belcea Quartet - Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 131
Belcea Quartet - Shostakovich String Quartet no.3

Contact

Linda Uschinski
Head of String Quartet Department
t: +49 (0)30 414 781 717
Ramona Wiener
Artist Coordinator
t: +49 (0)30 414 781 723