21.2. 2022
Spanish Synagogue, 7.30 pm
Talich Quartet
Jan Talich - violin
Roman Patočka - violin
Radim Sedmidubský - viola
Michal Kaňka - cello
Viktor Ullmann
String Quartet No. 3
Allegro moderato - Presto - Largo - Allegro vivace e ritmico
Franz Schubert
String Quartet No. 14 in D minor "Death and the Maiden" (D 810)
Allegro
Andante con moto
Scherzo. Allegro molto
Presto
The Talich Quartet was founded at the Prague Conservatory in 1962, first as a student ensemble, which in 1965 adopted the name of conductor Václav Talich, the uncle of the concertmaster (later violist) of the first composition of the Jan Talich ensemble. The cast has undergone generational changes, in its current iteration its leader is Jan Talich Jr, who is the son of the founder. During its existence, the ensemble has won a number of international awards in competitions and for its recording activities. Its extensive repertoire includes works from the Classical period to the present, a set of quartets by W.A. Mozart, L. van Beethoven, F. Schubert and other 19th century composers, quartets by Béla Bartók, Dmitri Shostakovich, and of course B. Smetana, A. Dvořák, Zdeněk Fibich, Leoš Janáček and Bohuslav Martinů. The ensemble is not limited to the quartet repertoire; it collaborates with other performers and ensembles. The quartet has travelled literally throughout the whole world with its art, and each performance confirms its place at the pinnacle of world quartet ensembles.