Malvern Concert Club: Wihan Quartet

Wihan Quartet

Leoš Čepický, violin     Jan Schulmeister, violin
Jakub Čepický, viola     Michal Kaňka, cello

Haydn  Quartet in G, Op.54, No.1

Beethoven  Quartet No. 16 in F, Op.135

Tchaikovsky  Quartet No. 3 in E flat minor, Op.30

The Wihan Quartet has been described by International Record Review as ‘one of the best quartets in the world today.’  In 2015 the Quartet celebrated 30 years since its formation, and over the years it has developed an outstanding reputation for the interpretation of its native Czech heritage, and of the many classical, romantic and modern masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire.

During the 2012-13 season the Quartet was Czech Chamber Music Society Resident Ensemble at the Rudolfinum Dvořák Hall, Prague. In 2008 the Quartet completed the first ever cycle of Beethoven Quartets in Prague, later repeated in London. Recorded for release on CD and DVD, it received many accolades, as have the Wihan’s CDs of Dvořák and Schubert. The Quartet has won many International Competitions including The Prague Spring Festival and the Osaka ‘Chamber Festa’. The Wihan is the Richard Carne Quartet in Residence at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, and is a great supporter of the work of the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust for young people.

After one of Haydn’s quartets of seemingly endless inventiveness and wit, the Wihan plays Beethoven’s very last quartet, so different in scale from its immediate predecessors. Its final movement is known for the composer’s words on the manuscript, Muß es sein? (Must it be?) and its response Es muß sein! (It must be!), reflecting its musical motifs. The programme ends with Tchaikovsky’s last quartet, an elegiac work written in memory of Ferdinand Laub, the Czech violinist who had led the first performances of Tchaikovsky’s first two quartets.

 This concert has been generously sponsored by Joseph Brand, Vice President, Malvern Concert Club

Ticket price includes a £1 contribution to our heritage fund.