Cuarteto Casals and Alexander Melnikov
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Date
- 20:00 / Cancelled 20:00 / Sold out Tuesday, 20:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
25% – Under 30
10% – Over 65
Cartão Gulbenkian:
50% – Under 30
20% – Over 65
10% – 30 to 65
- Vera Martínez Mehner Violin
- Abel Tomàs Violin
- Cristina Cordero Viola
- Arnau Tomàs Cello
- Piano
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Cuarteto Casals
Founded in 1997 at the Escuela Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Cuarteto Casals’ 25th anniversary is right around the corner and will be celebrated in the season 2022/2023… Highlights of the season 2021/2022 include the opening concert at the String Quartet Week at Boulez Saal in Berlin in May 2022, performances at the String Quartet Biennale’s in Paris and Lisbon and at the Quartet Weekend in Lugano in January 2022, as well as a US-tour in February 2022. Besides, some concerts with orchestra are planned: e.g. in Barcelona with the Orquestra Simfónica and in Amsterdam with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Other highlights include concerts at Flagey in Brussels, at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele or at L’Auditori in Barcelona.
Since winning First Prizes at the London and Brahms-Hamburg competitions, Cuarteto Casals has been a repeated guest at the world’s most prestigious concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie Cologne, Cité de la Musique Paris, Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, among many others around the world. Since September 2020, the quartet is artistic director of the String Quartet Biennale Barcelona.
The quartet has compiled a substantial discography with the harmonia mundi label, including to date 15 CD’s, with repertoire ranging from lesser known Spanish composers Arriaga and Toldrá to Viennese classics Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Brahms, through 20th Century greats Debussy, Ravel and Zemlinsky, as well as a live Blue-Ray recording of the complete Schubert quartets for Neu Records. In May 2020, to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, the third box-set of a three-volume recording of his quartets was released on the harmonia mundi label; all three volumes received great critical acclaim.
A prize from the prestigious Burletti-Buitoni Trust in London enabled the quartet to begin a collection of matching Baroque and Classical period bows which it uses for works from Purcell through Schubert, refining its ability to distinguish between diverse musical styles. In addition, the quartet has been profoundly influenced by its work with living composers, especially György Kurtág, and has given the world premiere of quartets written by leading Spanish composers, including a new concerto for string quartet and orchestra by Francisco Coll, premiered with the Orquesta Nacional de España.
In recognition of its unique contributions to the cultural life within Catalunya and throughout Spain, Cuarteto Casals has been acknowledged as cultural ambassadors by the Generalitat of Catalunya and the Institut Ramon Lull, as well as the Ministerio de Cultura. Past awards include the Premio Nacional de Música, the Premi Nacional de Cultura de Catalunya and the Premi Ciutat Barcelona. The quartet performs yearly on the extraordinary collection of decorated Stradivarius instruments in the Royal Palace in Madrid.
Cuarteto Casals often appears on television and radio throughout Europe and North America, and in addition to giving much sought-after masterclasses, is quartet in residence at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag and at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona, where all four members reside.
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Alexander Melnikov
Piano
Alexander Melnikov diplomou-se pelo Conservatório de Moscovo, na classe de Lev Naumov. Nessa altura, destaca-se um encontro inicial com o lendário pianista Sviatoslav Richter, que o viria a convidar regularmente para festivais na Rússia e em França. Melnikov foi premiado em eminentes competições como o Concurso Internacional Robert Schumann (Zwickau, 1989) ou o Concurso Rainha Elisabeth (Bruxelas, 1991). Desde muito cedo, cultivou um interesse particular pelas interpretações de época. As suas maiores influências neste campo incluem Andreas Staier e Alexei Lubimov, bem como as colaborações com agrupamentos como Freiburger Barockorchester, Musica Aeterna ou Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
Como solista, atuou com muitas das grandes orquestras mundiais, incluindo a Orquestra do Real Concertgebouw de Amesterdão, a Orquestra do Gewandhaus de Leipzig, a NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, a HR-Sinfonieorchester ou as Filarmónicas de Munique, Roterdão e da BBC, sob a direção de maestros como Mikhail Pletnev, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Paavo Järvi, Thomas Dausgaard, Maxim Emelyanychev ou Vladimir Jurowski. Uma parte essencial do trabalho de Alexander Melnikov está relacionada com a música de câmara, em colaboração com artistas como o violoncelista Jean-Guihen Queyras ou a violinista Isabelle Faust, tendo realizado várias gravações distinguidas com prémios internacionais.
A temporada 2024/25 inclui uma residência no Konzerthaus de Viena, com uma programa solo, um concerto de música de câmara e um concerto com a Sinfónica de Viena, sob a direção do maestro Christoph Eschenbach. A preenchida agenda de Melnikov inclui ainda concertos no Japão, nos EUA e na Europa, com a Orquestra Gulbenkian, a Filarmónica de Munique, a Orquestra do Konzerthaus de Berlim, a Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, a Gürzenich Orchestra, a Kammerakademie Potsdam, a Orquestra de Câmara de Basileia ou a Orquestra de Câmara Australiana, sob a direção de Ivor Bolton, Maxim Emelyanychev, Hannu Lintu, Daniel Cohen, Anja Bihlmaier e Giovanni Antonini. A música de câmara inclui várias formações, em concertos em Helsínquia, Copenhaga, Berlim, Lyon, Amesterdão, Bona, Vancouver, Seattle ou Londres. Os recitais a solo incluem Berlim, Colónia, Lyon, Praga, Madrid, Yokohama e Tóquio, entre outras cidades.
Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in D major, Hob.III:79 (op. 76 n.º 5)
Elisenda Fábregas
String Quartet "Fiery earth"
— Intermission of 20 min. —Dmitri Shostakovich
Piano Quintet in G minor, op. 57
Total approximate duration: 100 min.
Cuarteto Casals is one of the world’s most renowned string quartets – the New York Times praises its “inimitable sound signature”, emphasising its enormous expressive range. In this return to the Grand Auditorium, the Spanish quartet will share the stage with the no less brilliant pianist Alexander Melnikov, whose disc Preludes and Fugues, made up of pieces by Shostakovich, was considered one of the “50 Best Recordings Ever” by BBC Music Magazine.
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.
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