Smetana Quartet

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The Smetana Quartet was a Czech string quartet that existed from 1945 to 1989 .

history

The Smetana Quartet emerged from the string quartet of the Czech Conservatory , which was founded in 1943 by the cellist Antonin Kouhout during the Nazi occupation . With Jaroslav Rybenský on first and Lubomír Kostecký on second violin and Václav Neumann on viola, the group gave their first concerts as the Smetana Quartet in November 1945 in Prague.

In 1947 Neuman left the quartet to concentrate on conducting. Then Rybensky switched to viola and Jiří Novák played the first violin. In 1949 an official connection with the Czech Philharmonic was established. The first foreign tour in the same year led to Poland . The first recordings followed in 1950 with a string quartet by Bedřich Smetana . In 1952 Rybensky had to retire for health reasons and was replaced by Milan Škampa .

For many years the quartet was considered the best Czech string quartet of its time. The Czech repertoire was played by heart throughout, which gave the works a special intensity and intimacy. Of her many recordings, those of Electrola are particularly noteworthy.

In 1967 the musicians were appointed professors at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague . Master classes at various music academies followed. They taught the Kocian Quartet founded in 1972 , the Martinů Quartet founded in 1976 and the Nasdala Quartet founded in 1984 .

swell

  • Vladimír Šefl, Smetanovo Kvarteto (Supraphon, 1974)
  • Jirǐ Berkovec, The Smetana Quartet (Orbis 1956)

proof

  1. ↑ Jindrich Balek, ' The Smetana Quartet: Ludwig van Beethoven ', Czech Music , October 2006, viewed August 17, 2009 (English).
  2. ↑ A DVD with a one-hour documentation by Jaromil Jireš about the Smetana Quartet was released in 2004 by Supraphon under the number SU 7004.
  3. ^ R. Stowell, The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet (CUP 2003), pp. 64–65: with photography ( online at books.google.com).
  4. ↑ Information on this section is based on an article by Bruce Eder, Allmusic: found at answers.com , viewed August 17, 2009.
  5. ↑ Information on the Kocian Quartet at concerts-prague.cz (English), as of August 17, 2009.
  6. ↑ Information ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. for the Martinů Quartet on oliverius.cz (English), as seen on August 17, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oliverius.cz