The Belcea Quartet is a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, formed in 1994, under the leadership of violinist Corina Belcea.

History

The quartet was formed while its members were studying at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in London. Whilst there, they were coached by the

Chilingirian Quartet The Chilingirian Quartet is a British string quartet. It gave its first public concert in Cambridge in 1972. By the time the quartet celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, there had been various changes in the line-up. However, it has continued t ...

. They subsequently studied with the

Alban Berg Quartet The Alban Berg Quartett was a string quartet founded in Vienna, Austria in 1970, named after Alban Berg. Members Beginnings The Berg Quartet was founded in 1970 by four young professors of the Vienna Academy of Music, and made its debut in ...

at Cologne. The quartet was one of the first groups to participate in the

BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme (also known as the NGA scheme) was launched in 1999 by Adam Gatehouse as part of the BBC's commitment to young musical talent. Each autumn six or seven young artists at the beginning of careers on the n ...

, from 1999 to 2001. They made their

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

debut in 2000 as part of the 'Distinctive Debuts' series. Their first performance at the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are i ...

was in August 2001. The Belcea Quartet were quartet in-residence at

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

in London from 2001 to 2006. During their Wigmore residency, the quartet participated in the first performances of ''The Canticle of the Rose'' by Joseph Phibbs. In the 2010/11 season, the Belcea Quartet gave the world premiere of

Mark Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...

's new work for string quartet Twisted Blues with Twisted Ballad at

Cologne Philharmonie Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Amsterdam Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...

and the

Vienna Konzerthaus The Konzerthaus is a concert hall located in Vienna, Austria, which opened in 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both traditional and ...

. In May 2011, they curated their own 'Beethoven & Schubert: Final Years’ project with concerts in Aldeburgh, the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium and Philharmonie Luxembourg, collaborating with

Imogen Cooper Dame Imogen Cooper, (born 28 August 1949) is an English pianist. Biography Cooper was born in North London, daughter of the musicologist Martin du Pré Cooper and Mary Stewart, artist. She grew up surrounded by music through her parents and ...

Ian Bostridge Ian Charles Bostridge CBE (born 25 December 1964) is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer. Early life and education Bostridge was born in London, the son of Leslie Bostridge and Lillian (née Clark). ...

Mark Padmore Mark Padmore (born 8 March 1961) is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera. He was born in London on 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent, England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral ...

, Julius Drake and Valentin Erben. Towards the end of 2011, the Belcea Quartet embarked on an ambitious survey of the complete string quartets by Beethoven with cycles of concerts planned in the UK, Germany, Austria, Sweden and the USA. The Belcea Quartet won the

Gramophone Award The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

for best debut recording in 2001. Their discography for

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

includes Fauré's La Bonne Chanson with Ian Bostridge; Schubert's Trout Quintet with Thomas Adès and Corin Long; a double disc of Britten's string quartets, which won a MIDEM Cannes Award; Mozart's "Dissonance" and "Hoffmeister" quartets; and the complete Bartók quartets, for which the Quartet was awarded the title Chamber Music Ensemble of the Year by Germany's Echo Klassik Awards and nominated for a 2008 Gramophone Award. Their release of a double disc of the late Schubert Quartets and the String Quintet with Valentin Erben for

, was nominated for a Gramophone Award. The Belcea Quartet are Quartet in Residence

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, London, and, from the beginning of the 2010/11 season, Ensemble in Residence at the

Current members

* Corina Belcea-Fisher, violin * Axel Schacher, violin, since 2010 * Krzysztof Chorzelski,

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

* Antoine Lederlin, cello, since 2006

Former members

* Alasdair Tait, cello * Laura Samuel, violin * Matthew Talty, cello

Recordings

Partial list of recordings: *

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

– String Quartets, 2001 *

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

– String Quartets, 2002 *

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

– String Quartets, 2004 *

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

– String Quartets, 2005 * Schubert – Trout Quintet (with pianist

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), ''V ...

), 2005Andrew_Clements,_"Adès:_Piano_Quintet;_Schubert:_Trout_Quintet:_Ades/Arditti_Quartet
/Belcea_Quartet".__''The_Guardian'',_6_May_2005..html" ;"title="Arditti Quartet">Andrew Clements, "Adès: Piano Quintet; Schubert: Trout Quintet: Ades/Arditti Quartet
/Belcea Quartet". ''The Guardian'', 6 May 2005.">Arditti Quartet">Andrew Clements, "Adès: Piano Quintet; Schubert: Trout Quintet: Ades/Arditti Quartet
/Belcea Quartet". ''The Guardian'', 6 May 2005./ref> * Mozart – String Quartets, 2006 (original line-up) * Bartók – Complete String Quartets, 2008 *

– String Quintet (with Valentin Erben), Quartet in G, Quartet in D minor, 2009 *

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

– Complete String Quartets, 2014

Notes

References

* EMI Liner Notes
EMI Germany page

External links

Official website

at their management agency
MUSO magazine interview

Selected concert reviews

* Tim Ashley

* Ivan Hewett
"Poise and personality". ''Telegraph'', 9 July 2002.
* Tom Service

*

Geoffrey Norris Geoffrey Norris (born 1947) is an English musicologist and music critic. His scholarship focuses on Russian composers; in particularly, Norris is a leading scholar on the life and music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, about whom he has written in nume ...

"Quest for the new". ''Telegraph'', 31 October 2002.
*

"Profundity and vision". ''Telegraph'', 4 March 2003.
* David Fanning
"Aldeburgh Festival: precision of a madman". ''Telegraph'', 24 June 2003.
* Andrew Clements

* Tom Service

* Erica Jeal

* Rian Evans

* George Hall, ttp://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1511559,00.html review of June 2005 Wigmore Hall concert. ''The Guardian'', 22 June 2005.*

"Four strings weave a taut web". ''Telegraph'', 5 June 2006.
*

"Apt tribute to Britten's originality". ''Telegraph'', 5 December 2006.
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1994 English string quartets 1994 establishments in England BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists