Pražák String Quartet of Prague
Jana Vonášková and Marie Magdalena Fuxová violins
Josef Klusoň viola, Pavel Jonáš Krejčí cello
Suk Meditation
Janáček Quartet No 1 ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’
Karel Janovický Quartet No 4 (UK première)
Dvořák Quartet in G Op 106
The Pražák Quartet was our first casualty of the lockdown back in March 2020 and so we are delighted to welcome them again, bringing a totally Czech programme to build on their triumphant success here in the 2018 Leamington Music Festival.
Concert generously supported by the Low-Beer Trust
Consone String Quartet
Agata Daraškaite & Magdalena Loth-Hill violins
Elitsa Bogdanova viola, George Ross cello
with Alexander Rolton cello
Haydn Quartet in D Op 71 No 2
Onslow Quintet in C minor Op 38 ‘The Bullet’
Schubert Quintet in C D956
The first period instrument group to become BBC New Generation Artists, the Consone’s first concert in Leamington in February 2020 included a quartet by Onslow. It made a big impression and there will be much interest in his quintet, written in 1829 and nicknamed ‘The Bullet’, before we hear Schubert’s sublime quintet, which dates from the previous year.
Concert generously supported by Jennifer Lorch, Julia Rowntree and William Lorch in memory of their brother Richard
Carducci Quartet
Matthew Denton and Michelle Fleming violins
Eoin Schmidt-Martin viola, Emma Denton cello
Haydn Quartet in E flat Op 33 No 2 ‘The Joke’
Shostakovich Quartet No 7 in F sharp minor Op 108
Beethoven Quartet in A minor Op 132
Back for their seventh concert with Leamington Music, the Carducci Quartet have always, since they first came in January 2009, impressed our audiences with their committed and musical performances. The Quartet’s Shostakovich cycles have been rightly crowned by a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.
Concert generously sponsored by Investec
Jubilee Quartet
Tereza Privratska and Julia Loucks violins
Lorena Cantó Woltèche viola, Toby White cello
Tauský Coventry: A Meditation
Mendelssohn Quartet in A minor Op 13
Schubert Quartet in D minor D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’
The Jubilee Quartet bring the programme over to Leamington, where Tauský was stationed with the Czech Free Army. We add Schubert’s ‘Death and the Maiden’ to complete this journey of reflection in Coventry’s year as the UK City of Culture.
Concert generously supported by the Low-Beer Trust
Jubilee Quartet
Tereza Privratska and Julia Loucks violins
Lorena Cantó Woltèche viola, Toby White cello
Tauský Coventry: A Meditation
Mendelssohn Quartet in A minor Op 13
A programme based on the very moving work that Vilém Tauský wrote in November 1940 after going into Coventry with a Czech Free Army ambulance and seeing the smouldering ruins of the cathedral. The Drapers’ Hall only yards away survived intact and, following renovations, opens this October as a music venue.
Concert generously supported by Historic Coventry Trust
Johannes Marmen and Laia Braun violins
Bryony Gibson-Cornish viola, Sinéad O’Halloran cello
Haydn Quartet in B flat Op 64 No 3
Mozart Quartet in E flat K428
Brahms Quartet in C minor Op 51 No 1
Chosen by Peter Cropper as the very first winners of Music in the Round’s Bridge scheme, the Marmen Quartet return to the area for the first time since 2016, having won the Grand Prize of the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2019 as well as the First Prize of the Banff International String Quartet Competition.
The Quartet made their BBC Proms debut this August, performing Robert Simpson’s Quartet No 1, which they bring now to the town of his birth in this powerful programme.
Concert generously sponsored by Investec
Ben Hancox and Hannah Dawson violins
Robin Ashwell viola, Cara Berridge cello
Haydn Quartet in C Op 54 No 2
Shostakovich Quartet No 8 in C minor Op 110
Beethoven Quartet in C sharp minor Op 131
Celebrating twenty years this season, the Sacconi Quartet were due to open the 2020 Leamington Music Festival. Now, ten years since their last appearance in Leamington, the Quartet come back with a connoisseur’s programme, part of a busy Autumn, prefaced by Festivals in County Mayo and Beverley.
Concert generously sponsored by Investec
Dante Quartet
Zoë Beyers and Ian Watson violins
Ben Newton viola | Richard Jenkinson cello
with Benjamin Frith piano
Haydn Quartet in B flat Op 76 No 4 ‘Sunrise’
Simpson Quartet No 8
Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat Op 44
The Dante Quartet returns to Leamington after a four year gap and with a new line-up. Simpson’s Quartet No 8 dates from 1979 and shows the composer at his best in an attractive, powerful and gripping work which, dedicated to an entomologist, includes a most intriguing depiction of the mosquito.
With the concert having started with Haydn at his sunniest, the Festival will close with Schumann’s sparkling Piano Quintet, with Benjamin Frith back here after too long a time. Known as a soloist and member of the Gould Piano Trio, he was a pupil of the legendary Fanny Waterman and, among many awards, won the Gold Medal in the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Israel in 1989.
Coull Quartet
Roger Coull and Philip Gallaway violins
Jonathan Barritt viola | Nicholas Roberts cello
with Martin Outram viola
Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor D703
Simpson String Quintet No 1
Beethoven String Quintet in C Op 29
With such close ties to Robert Simpson, only the Coull Quartet could be the right fit to open a Festival celebrating the composer’s works and the music of those composers he loved, especially Beethoven whose 250th birthday was to have been celebrated with the 2020 Festival.
The Coull enjoyed many years of working with Simpson, commissioning the Quartet No 10 to celebrate their tenth anniversary in 1984, in the early days of their residency at Warwick University. They premiered three of his Quartets and this Quintet, and have recorded all of these works for Hyperion over the years.
Joined by Martin Outram from the Maggini Quartet, this concert also gives a rare opportunity to hear Beethoven’s Quintet, which paired with the Simpson offers a beautiful synergy with which to begin our much-loved Festival.
Coull Quartet
Roger Coull and Philip Gallaway violins
Jonathan Barritt viola | Nicholas Roberts cello
The Robert Simpson Centenary Concert
Simpson Quartet No 10 ‘For Peace’
Beethoven Quartet in C Op 59 No 3 ‘Razumovsky’
Leamington Music is delighted to include two one-hour concerts from the Coull Quartet in the Midsummer Music Festival. The Coull has long-championed the music of the Leamington-born composer Robert Simpson, and commissioned his Quartet No 10 (which features in the second concert) for their tenth anniversary celebrations in 1984.
Concert generously sponsored by Investec and supported by David Morris
A discount is on offer if you wish to book tickets for both Coull Quartet concerts on this date – please contact the Leamington Music office by emailing helen@leamingtonmusic.org or calling 01926 497000 to take advantage of this.
Concert will run straight through with no interval