Founded in 1991, the Quatuor Danel has been at the forefront of the European music scene since, with major concert performances worldwide and a number of groundbreaking recordings which have won many important international awards. The Quartet will make its American debut during the 2015-16 season, featuring concerts in New York and Washington as well as at series across the country.
The ensemble is famous for their bold, concentrated interpretations of the string quartet cycles of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Weinberg. Their lively and fresh vision on traditional quartet repertoire has won them lavish praise from both the public and the press. Russian composers have a vital place in the Quatuor Danel’s repertoire: they have championed the string quartets of Shostakovich, and their recently reissued recording of the complete cycle (Fuga Libera, 2005) is considered one of the benchmark interpretations of these quartets.
In addition, over the past three years the Quatuor Danel has recorded the almost-unknown quartet oeuvre of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, the neglected contemporary of Shostakovich, for the CD label CPO. The Quartet will continue to offer this breathtakingly beautiful repertoire in coming seasons. In addition, they have collaborated with major contemporary composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Helmutt Lachenmann, Sofia Gubaidulina, Pascal Dusapin, and the stars of the younger generation including Jörg Widmann and Bruno Mantovani.
In addition to their advocacy for Russian music, the Quatuor Danel has a particular passion for teaching young musicians in general and string quartets in particular. Teaching, outreach, and master classes are a fundamental part of their activities. The Quartet has been artist-in-residence at the University of Manchester since 2005, working closely with the students and also with musicologists Barry Cooper and David Fanning.
The Quartet’s upcoming concerts will take them to the major halls in Brussels, Amsterdam, Moscow, Paris, London, Madrid, Vienna, Berlin, Beijing, Tokyo, and New York; they are equally comfortable when playing in lesser-known, intimate venues. The Quatuor Danel is a regular guest at the major European festivals, and in the summer of 2016 made its North American debut at the Ottawa ChamberFest. Upcoming recording projects of the Quatuor Danel consist of the three Tchaikovsky quartets, the Quartet and Piano Quintet by Franck and a longer-term project combining all the string quartets of Haydn with late Beethoven.
August 2015 – Please do not edit without permission.
