Vlach Quartet

The (New) Vlach Quartet from Prague is a string quartet .

history

It was founded in 1982 and named after Prof. Josef Vlach (1923–1988), the first leader of the quartet. As early as the 1950s there had been a string quartet conducted by Josef Vlach with Josef Vlach (1st violin), Vaclav Snitil (2nd violin), Josef Kodousek (viola) and Viktor Mouora (cello). From 1957 Josef Vlach was a trainer, conductor and leader of the Czech Chamber Orchestra.

composition

Ondrej Kukal was a member of the quartet from 1985 to 1995, and Georg Haag was also a member of the quartet until 2006. The Vlach Quartet now consists of the first violinist Jana Vlachová, daughter of the founder of the quartet, the second violinist Karel Stadtherr, the violist Petr Verner and the cellist Mikael Ericsson. All members of the quartet are active soloists and belong to the core of the Czech Chamber Orchestra.

The Vlach Quartet also performs together with other artists, e.g. B. with the guitarist Maximilian Mangold or the clarinetists Dieter Klöcker and Elisabeth Seitenberger.

Works

Until the 100th anniversary of the death of the composer Antonín Dvořák in 2004, the quartet recorded his entire chamber music work. Performances in which the Vlach Quartet accompanied Jewish clarinet music and the Esquisses Hébraiques caused a sensation .

Prizes and awards

• 1985: First prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Portsmouth (England)
• 1988: Scholarship from the Hindemith Foundation
• 1991: Prize of the Czech Chamber Music Association
• 1992: Prize of the Czech Music Fund for the CD with recordings by Smetana and Janáček
• 2000: Prize of the German Record Critics for the recording of the Esquisses Hébraïques with the clarinetist Dieter Klöcker