Chamber Concert II

Copyrights: Wolfgang Ehn, 2022
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Richard-Strauss-Platz 1, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Deutschland
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Hildegard von Bingen

from: Ordo virtutum

Guillaume Dufay

Ave Regina caelorum

Antoine Brumel

Benedictus

Nicolas Gombert

Missa Je suis desheritée

Antonio Vivaldi

From: The Four Seasons - Winter

  • II - Largo
Werner Schulze

Strauss-Studien

for heckelphone and piano op. 36 (UA)

  • Salome - Elektra - Josephs Legende - Festliches Präludium - Eine Alpensinfonie
Richard Strauss

Quartets for violin, viola, violoncello and piano

  • Festmarsch TrV 136
  • Ständchen TrV 114
  • Arabischer Tanz TrV 169/2
Graham Waterhouse

Perplexities (nach M. C. Escher)

for heckelphone, string quartet and double bass (premiere)

  • Levenkracht/Life Force - Allegramente
  • Atrani - Adagio piangendo
  • Draak/Dragon - Presto scurrile
  • Castrovalva - Moderato
  • Kringloop - Con moto energico
Graffe Quartet
Ladislav Doležel
Miloslav Jelínek

Heckelphone: Ulrich Brokamp, Harry Searing, Nathaniel Sanchez, Amelia Coleman, Magnus Kongsmo Karlsen

Graffe Quartet

Graffe Quartetis one of the leading Czech ensembles of the middle generation, following in the footsteps of the rich interpretive tradition established by the Czech quartet school. Since its foundation in 1997, the group has been awarded a number of laureate titles at international competitions (including the 1999 Beethoven’s Hradec International Music Competition, the ACT 2003 International Chamber Music Competition – London, Great Britain, and the “Verfemte Musik” International Competition 2005 – Schwerin, Germany) and has been a two-time winner (in 2001 and 2003) of the Leoš Janáček Foundation Award  for the interpretation of the Leoš Janáček Quartets. In 2005,  the quartet was awarded a special prize of the French association “Forum Voix Etouffés” and in 2008 the prestigious Prize of the Czech Chamber Music Society of the Czech Philharmonic, thereby joining the leading Czech chamber ensembles in winning this prize.

Members of the Janáček Quartet (especially Prof. Adolf Sýkora) actively contributed to the Graffe Quartet’s artistic development, while Prof. Jerry Horner (a member of the legendary US-based Fine Arts Quartet) had a fundamental influence on the performing style of the ensemble, having collaborated closely from 2006 to 2017. Furthermore, the quartet repeatedly participated in numerous international chamber music workshops, where it had the opportunity to study under the guidance of leading artists, including Günter Pichler (Alban Berg Quartet, Vienna), Norbert Brainin and Siegmund Nissel (Amadeus Quartet, London), László Mezö (Bartók Quartet, Budapest), Milan Škampa (Smetana Quartet, Prague) and others.

The Graffe Quartet has performed on hundreds of concert stages on three continents as part of major concert series, including the Dvořák Hall at Prague’s Rudolfinum, the Czech Chamber Music Society; Besední dům (Our House) in Brno, the Friends of Music Society; the Chicago Chamber Music Society, USA; the Spivey Hall, Atlanta, USA; and the Leamington Music, Great Britain.  Recently, the ensemble has also performed at many major music festivals, such as the Prague Spring, Varna Summer International Music Festival, Bratislava Music Festival, Moravian Autumn, Janáček Brno, Concentus Moravie, and the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival in Ostrava. The group’s recordings were done by radio and television stations both in Europe and overseas (Czech, Slovak and Croatian radio, BBC, American Public Media, Czech Television, Tv NOE, etc.). The Graffe Quartet also released CD records, which repeatedly won the “Recording of the Month” title on MusicWeb International, a prestigious British music portal.

During its 25 years of existence, the Graffe Quartet’s repertoire has included over 150 pieces of chamber literature, and the group has collaborated with numerous accomplished artists as part of larger chamber ensembles. These include: Michio Otaki-piano (USA), Grigorios Zamparas-piano (USA), Jitka Čechová-piano, Igor Ardašev-piano, Jan Jiraský-piano, Bohuslav Matoušek-viola, Josef Špaček-violin, viola, Kristina Fialová-viola, Jiří Bárta-cello, Petr Nouzovský-cello, James Campbell-clarinet (Canada), Irvin Venyš-clarinet, Vlastimil Mareš-clarinet and the Pražák Quartet. The quartet also performs as part of the VOX IMAGINIS art cycle residency, organized in cooperation with the Moravian Gallery in Brno. The quartet has collaborated with a number of leading Czech actors participating in these musical-theatrical performances, including: Jitka Molavcová, Maria Durnová, Lubomíra Sonková, Alfred Strejček, Jan Kačer, Josef Somr, Vladimír Krátký, František Derfler, Saša Rašilov, Michal Bumbálek, and Otakar Brousek Jr.

The Graffe Quartet performed a number of world premieres of pieces by major composers, with many of the compositions dedicated to the ensemble. Its premiere performances included compositions by Bohuslav Martinů, André Previn, Werner Schulz, Jiří Pavlica, Milan Slimáček, and Miloš Štědroň.

Ladislav Doležel

Ladislav DoleželThe pianist Ladislav Doležel (born 1984) studied with Eva Horáková at the Conservatory in Brno and with Prof. Emil Leichner at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU). In 2010, he extended his studies with Prof. Konstantin Scherbakov at the ZHdK in Zurich/Winterthur as an Erasmus exchange student. During his studies he received numerous competition prizes (Smetana Piano Competition in Pilsen, Beethoven’s Hradec, Martinů Foundation Prize). He also attended numerous master classes (e.g. EPTA piano courses with Gregor Weichert, Alexej Bukreev, Peter Toperczer, International Summer Academy 2007 in Reichenau an der Rax with Jan Gottlieb Jiracek). In a duo with violinist Hana Hložková, he was awarded 3rd prize at the international competition “Verfemte Musik” in Schwerin in 2006. He has been teaching at the Brno Conservatory since 2011.

Miloslav Jelínek

Miloslav Jelínekgraduated from the conservatory in Kroměříž (Prof. Miloslav Gajdoš) and then the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno (Prof. Jiří Bortlíček). During his studies, he took part in a number of interpretation competitions and won numerous prizes. Miloslav Jelínek was the leader of the double bass section in the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra for 23 years. He is currently a professor at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, at the University of Ostrava, at the Karol Lipinski Academy of Music in Wrocław (Poland) (2012 – 2015) and at the Brno Conservatory. He is an honorary professor at the Beijing Conservatory. Miloslav Jelinek is the founder and chairman of the Czech Society of Double Bassists. He collaborates with many chamber music ensembles (e.g. Janáček String Quartet, Brindisi String Quartet, Wallinger Quartet, RIX Quartet). Every year in September he organizes the International Double Bass Congress in Brno, Czech Republic. He has made numerous radio, television and CD recordings and, together with his wife Marcela Jelínková (piano), gives numerous double bass concerts in the Czech Republic and abroad. He performs as a soloist with symphony orchestras (Brno Philharmonic, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Lower Silesian Philharmonic, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, South Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic, Brno Chamber Orchestra, Czech Chamber Soloists and many others).

He is also the conductor of the Brno Double Bass Orchestra. Miloslav Jelínek presents many contemporary works written for him. For example Jiří Matys, Tony Osborne, Miloš Štědroň, František Emmert, Leoš Faltus and others. Miloslav Jelínek gives numerous courses and master classes all over the world (including China, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia, Latvia, Singapore, USA).