NEWS
Belcea Quartet: New Season – New Face
Meldung ansehen
NEWS
Leonkoro Quartett: Debut Album out now
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Welcome: Asya Fateyeva!
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We are proud to present our new family member: Giorgi Gigashvili!
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Günther Groissböck | Lied Season 2023/24
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Impresarium 2024/25 – Our new interactive brochure
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Ariane Matiakh | Opéra du Rhin “La Voix humaine”
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Leonkoro Quartet on ARTE…
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NEWS
Leonkoro Quartet’s debut on Deutschlandfunk Kultur!
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Günther Groissböck: NEVER TO MEET AGAIN!
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!The Leonkoro Quartet receives the MERITO String Quartet Award!
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INTRODUCING: ROMAN BORISOV Winner of the 1st Prize at the Kissinger KlavierOlymp 2022
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International ARD Music Competition 2022 – String Quartet
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Quatuor Ébène & Belcea Quartet at the Vienna Konzerthaus
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Quatuor Ébène in residence at the International Beethovenfest Bonn
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Quatuor Ébène starts its 1st season as “Quatuor en résidence à Radio France”
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NEWS
Ariane MATIAKH – Debut at the BBC PROMS
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Leonkoro Quartet => BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists
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NEWS
Leonkoro Quartet – 1st prize at the Quatuor à Bordeaux Competition
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Welcome: Anja Bihlmaier!
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Hip Hip Hooray! And the winner is: the Leonkoro Quartett
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NEWS
Music Director Daniel Cohen stays on at the Darmstadt Theater
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NEWS
War in Ukraine
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NEWS
Quatuor Ébène: New Year => New Photos
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NEWS
Award for Quatuor Ébène
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NEWS
Quatuor Ébène: Victoires de la musique classique
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NEWS
“The Strad” feat. Quatuor Modigliani
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Teaching position for the Quatuor Ébène!
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NEWS
Welcome JOHANNES DEBUS
Details
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Alexander Melnikov: Beethoven’s Perfect Storm
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Record Academy Award for the Belcea Quartet
Details
NEWS
CONGRATULATION! Quatuor Ébène
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NEWS
Newsletter XI 2020: from our conductors
NEWS
“Fragment” – the new album of Schumann Quartet
More information
NEWS
The first concerts take place again!
Meldung ansehen
NEWS
Quatuor Ébène – Complete recording of the Beethoven quartets released
Meldung ansehen
NEWS
Avi Avital goes Live and only Live
More information
NEWS
Impresariat Simmenauer goes Instagram!
NEWS
Our Season Brochure 21/22 is now online!
NEWS
Ariane Matiakh – New Release: Dohnányi “The Veil of Pierette”
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NEWS
Julian Steckel joins the Skride Piano Quartet on tour through Australia
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NEWS
Opus Klassik for Schumann Quartett and Anna Lucia Richter in the category quintet!
Meldung ansehen
NEWS
The Strad Cover Artist September 2019: Big feature in honour of the 25th anniversary of the Belcea Quartet
Meldung ansehen
NEWS
Time to pop the corks! We celebrate…
Meldung ansehen
NEWS
Ariane Matiakh to be GMD of the Staatskapelle Halle (beginning 2019/20)
Meldung ansehen
NEWS
The Artemis Quartet Welcomes New Members Suyoen Kim and Harriet Krijgh
See full article
NEWS
Alexander Melnikov’s Shostakovich (Preludes & Fugues) ranked in the Top Ten Performances of 2018 in the Chicago area.
NEWS
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider: New Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon from 2020/21
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NEWS
Frankfurt Music Prize 2019 goes to Quatuor Ébène
More information
NEWS
Alexander Melnikov in Residence at the Wigmore Hall, London (2018/2019)
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Jonathan Biss is new co-artistic director of prestigious Marlboro Music
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Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider: Soloist/Conductor in Residence with Wiener Symphoniker
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Sharon Kam: curator of the Prague Dvorak Festival’s chamber music series 2018
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Georg Nigl: Papageno in the new “Magic Flute” at the Théatre de La Monnaie in Brussels
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Isabelle Faust: Artist in Residence at the Philharmonie Cologne
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Artist in Residence: Gidon Kremer and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Belcea Quartet: New Season – New Face

“This season, following the departure of our much-loved second violinist Axel Schacher, we are very happy to welcome the Korean-Australian violinist Suyeon Kang as our new colleague. Suyeon brings into our quartet not only her wonderful violin playing but also a vibrant and warm personality that will no doubt enrich us greatly in the years to come.
We thank our dear friend Axel for many unforgettable years of musical adventure together and wish him all the happiness and success in the future.” (Belcea Quartet)

A WARM WELCOME to Suyeon from us as well!

Impresarium 2024/25 – Our new interactive brochure

For decades we sent our season brochure as a booklet into the wide world – that’s over!

Our newly developed IMPRESARIUM is an interactive brochure in which you can discover the program proposals of our artists for the season 2024/25.

www.impresarium.de

Features:
– specific search by epochs, composers, themes, etc.
– video material
– selection of favorites
– constantly updated program offers

Leonkoro Quartet on ARTE…

as part of Daniel Hope’s Christmas@home edition of 2022.

Leonkoro Quartet’s debut on Deutschlandfunk Kultur!

Listen to the radio broadcast with Mozart, Shostakovich and Brahms here.

20.10.2022

!The Leonkoro Quartet receives the MERITO String Quartet Award!

“You can feel how passionate they are about playing String Quartet“ 

 

…says Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartett), the initiator of the MERITO Award which is being awarded every four years. Unlike other classical competitions the musicians are not aware of them being rated by a high profile jury throughout one whole year. During this long period of time, the ensemble proves its artistic level „unobserved“. Part of the jury is e.g. Veronika Hagen (Hagen Quartet), Mathieu Herzog (formerly Quatuor Ébène) and Irvine Arditti (Arditti Quartet).

 

„Furthermore (…) also the human warmth and charisma which distinguishes these four young people was crucial for our decision. It was never about showing off, but about a musical matter of the heart.“

 

For the Leonkoro Quartet, this surprising award marks a particularly beautiful ending of a very successful year.

The MERITO String Instruments Trust will now support the ensemble for four years with e.g. the allocation of a commissioned composition which will be premiered at the Wiener Konzerthaus.

!!Congratulations!! 

International ARD Music Competition 2022 – String Quartet

On September 10th at 10:15pm the final round of the competition in Munich came to an end. Congratulations to the Barbican Quartet on winning 1st prize as well as the prize for the best interpretation of the contemporary piece. We are looking forward to working with this ensemble for the prize winners’ tour next March.

Quatuor Ébène & Belcea Quartet at the Vienna Konzerthaus

From this season onwards Quatuor Ébène & Belcea Quartet will share a joint series at the Vienna Konzertaus.

Quatuor Ébène in residence at the International Beethovenfest Bonn

In August & September 2022, Quatuor Ébène will give 4 concerts at the International Beethovenfest Bonn, including concerts with students from their university class in Munich as well as with friends and long-time companions such as Martin Fröst and Nicolas Altstadt.

Quatuor Ébène starts its 1st season as “Quatuor en résidence à Radio France”

In their hometown will present their œuvre to the on-site audience as well as to the radio audience in a multitude of concerts during the next 3 seasons.

Ariane MATIAKH – Debut at the BBC PROMS

“With her wonderfully refined ear for the score’s textures and colours” Ariane Matiakh concludes her 21/22 season at the BBC PROMS, listen here.

Read the full Guardian review here.

 

 

 

Leonkoro Quartet => BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists

Shortly after the jubilation over the many prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the triumph at the Quatuor à Bordeaux Competition followed and, as all good things apparently come in threes, today, just one week later, the Leonkoro Quartet is appointed BBC New Generation Artists! The four Berlin-based musicians will be part of the scheme from 2022-2024.

Leonkoro Quartet – 1st prize at the Quatuor à Bordeaux Competition

Just one month after their great success at the International Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition (1st prize & 9 special prizes), the Leonkoro Quartet is celebrating another major triumph. On Saturday night they were awarded 1st prize at the Quatuor à Bordeaux Competition. They convinced not only the jury of their talent, but also the audience: in addition to 1st prize, the Leonkoro Quartet returned to Berlin with the audience prize and the young audience prize as well.

Welcome: Anja Bihlmaier!

With immediate effect we will be representing the wonderful Anja Bihlmaier in Germany and Austria. Welcome, dear Anja!

Hip Hip Hooray! And the winner is: the Leonkoro Quartett

What a week and what an evening for the Leonkoro Quartet at the Wigmore Hall International String Competition. With an incredibly intense and virtuoso Beethoven Razumovsky No. 3, the four Berlin based musicians crowned their competition week. Our heartfelt congratulations for winning 1st prize and the almost countless special prizes they were honoured with yesterday (April 10th, 2022).

Music Director Daniel Cohen stays on at the Darmstadt Theater

Confirmation of an artistic path of opening – Music Director Daniel Cohen and General Manager Karsten Wiegand to continue their work at the Darmstadt Theater.

War in Ukraine

We are shocked, dismayed and deeply saddened by the attack on Ukraine and share the pain Alexander Melnikov feels when writing for his audience today:

“It’s hard to imagine anyone further away from politics than I am. I also hate all pre-concert speeches.

But this morning – which I can call the worst morning of my life – I had a knot in my stomach that would prevent me from going on stage unless I can position myself clearly in front of you. Therefore I ask for 2 minutes of your attention:

Our civilization is in bad shape. [….] However, we all have our ‘red lines’. The beginning of a war must be the reddest of all red lines for everyone.

Of course, it is normal to say that I or millions of other Russians have nothing to do with this war. True, I haven’t lived there for many years and I definitely never voted for Putin or his party. If anything, I’m furious with them for making me feel guilty about being Russian. A feeling that has been with me for as long as I can remember.

But that’s not how things work. I feel responsible for this war. Neither I nor my countrymen have done enough to stop it.

It’s happening now that we’re all sitting here in the concert hall. People are dying in a criminal war for no reason.

When I look at humanity, I am infinitely sad. Shouldn’t we fear for our very survival? If we don’t survive, we will also lose Bach, Leonardo, Einstein, Newton or Pushkin. I don’t understand why we allow people like Putin or Trump to do this to our civilization.”

February 24th 2022

Quatuor Ébène: New Year => New Photos

Award for Quatuor Ébène

The Quatuor Ébène has been honored with an Opus Klassik (category: chamber music recording) for their “Beethoven Around the World” box set.
!Congratulation!

Quatuor Ébène: Victoires de la musique classique

For their complete recording of Beethoven’s String Quartets – “Beethoven Around the World” – Quatuor Ébène has been awarded the Victoire de la musique classique in the recording category (2021).

Teaching position for the Quatuor Ébène!

The Quartet is to establish a new String Quartet class at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (HMTM) from 2021/22 onwards. Congratulation!

Welcome JOHANNES DEBUS

With Johannes Debus another conductor is enriching our artists list. The Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company perceives it as very rewarding to have one foot on each continent.

He sees himself as a universalist, equally at home in Monteverdi, the Viennese School, Janáček, and the 20th-century repertoire. “I wouldn’t give up any of this musical variety,” Debus says. “If the boundaries of my language are the boundaries of my world, then every new piece is a passage to somewhere new.”

We are delighted to represent him for opera and concert in Europe, starting immediately.

01.12.2020 10:00

Record Academy Award for the Belcea Quartet

The Belcea Quartet receives the Japanese Record Academy Award for its DVD/BlueRay recording of the Beethoven String Quartets in the category: Video. CONGRATULATION!

CONGRATULATION! Quatuor Ébène

Choc de l’année 2020 of the Classica Magazine for „Beethoven Around the World”

“Fragment” – the new album of Schumann Quartet

The Schumann Quartet encounters Schubert with the String Quartet No. 6, D 74, the Quartettsatz, and the String Quartet No. 13, ‘Rosamunde’. The three brothers and Liisa Randalu show with their album “Fragment” how the compositions of Franz Schubert have developed over the years. A cooperation of Berlin Classics & SWR2, released 14 August.

The first concerts take place again!

Daily updated announcements about concerts with our artists can be found on our Facebook page.

15.05.2020

Quatuor Ébène – Complete recording of the Beethoven quartets released

Today the entire recording of the Beethoven String Quartets by Quatuor Ébène will be released worldwide!
A project that is no longer conceivable in the current situation: a string quartet on world tour, 6 continents, 10 months, 7 live recorded concerts. Even if most of the quartet’s concert tours are now suspended, we now can still enjoy “their” Beethoven at home.

28.03.2020 19:30

Avi Avital goes Live and only Live

At 7:30pm (CET), Avi Avital graces us with a 15 minute musical interval to the evening.
This event will be streamed Live and only Live, no catch-up or download.
Tune in on www.simmenauer.de/live or on the https://www.facebook.com/simmenauer/

Ariane Matiakh – New Release: Dohnányi “The Veil of Pierette”

Ariane Matiakh’s new recording of Ernst von Dohnányi’s pantomime “The Veil of Pierette” with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra will be released by Capriccio in February:

 

Julian Steckel joins the Skride Piano Quartet on tour through Australia

02.11.2019 – New Castle, AU / Conservatorium of Music
04.11.2019 – Sydney, AU / City Recital Hall
07.11.2019 – Adelaide, AU / Adelaide Town Hall
09.11.2019 – Sydney, AU / Conservatorium of Music
12.11.2019 – Perth, AU / Perth Concert Hall
14.11.2019 – Canberra, AU / Llewellyn Hall
16.11.2019 – Melbourne I, AU / Melbourne Recital Centre
19.11.2019 – Melbourne II, AU / Melbourne Recital Centre
20.11.2019 – Hobart, AU / Theatre Royal

Opus Klassik for Schumann Quartett and Anna Lucia Richter in the category quintet!

With its album “Intermezzo” the Schumann Quartet is turning its attention to its prominent Romantic namesake on a recording for the first time. Robert Schumann’s string quartet op. 41/1 is combined with Felix Mendelssohn’s op. 12 and two compositions by Aribert Reimann: his “Adagio in Memory of Robert Schumann” and the Schumann transcription “Six Songs op. 107” for soprano and string quartet with Anna Lucia Richter.

The album was released in 2018 by Berlin Classics.

15.08.2019

The Strad Cover Artist September 2019: Big feature in honour of the 25th anniversary of the Belcea Quartet

Preview: The Strad

15.05.2019 11:00

Time to pop the corks! We celebrate…

Not only the Impresariat Simmenauer is celebrating an anniversary this year – we raise our glasses to the 30th  –  but also 5 of our quartets.

Arditti Quartet – 45th anniversary
Artemis Quartet – 30th anniversary
Belcea Quartet – 25th anniversary
Quatuor Ébène – 20th anniversary
Quatuor Modigliani – 15th anniversary

Ariane Matiakh to be GMD of the Staatskapelle Halle (beginning 2019/20)

Ariane Matiakh is the wonderful new addition to our conductors list. With her, we win a musician whose career develops so naturally, and whose musicality is so sound that it is a joy to pick up the work with her, and to represent her worldwide for opera and concert.

The Artemis Quartet Welcomes New Members Suyoen Kim and Harriet Krijgh

Artemis Quartet announces the successors of Anthea Kreston and Eckart Runge from June 2019: to mark the 30th anniversary of the Artemis Quartet in 2019, two new players will join the ensemble.

Click here for more information

Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider: New Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon from 2020/21

Frankfurt Music Prize 2019 goes to Quatuor Ébène

The award is given annually within the framework of the Musikmesse trade fair in Frankfurt and honours personalities who have made a special contribution to the international music scene and culture.

The Trustees of the Frankfurt Music Prize acclaim Quatuor Ébène as an outstanding ensemble whose electrifying playing is characterised by passion, complete fidelity to the original works and a simultaneous delight in improvisation. Through their seemingly effortless crossover into the world of jazz, the musicians have succeeded in increasing public awareness of the string quartet as the elite of chamber music, as well as attracting more people, especially younger people, to the concert halls.