Brothers & sisters

The Hagen Quartet returns to Israel on its 30th anniversary

By MAXIM REIDER
Hagen Quartet 311 (photo credit: courtesy)
Hagen Quartet 311
(photo credit: courtesy)
The final concert in the Israeli Opera’s Music of all Sorts series hosts the renowned Hagen Quartet from Salzburg with Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein. The program includes quartets by Haydn and Bartok, as well as the beloved Brahms piano quintet.
The stellar career of the Hagen Quartet (the three siblings violinist Lukas, violist Veronika and cellist Clemens with violinist Rainer Schmidt) began in 1981 when the ensemble garnered two awards at the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival. A year later, when the members of the quartet were still under 20, they won Yehudi Menuhin’s prestigious Portsmouth String Quartet Competition. This was followed by awards in Evian, Bordeaux and Banff.
In their native city of Salzburg, they studied with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, whose period performance practice and Klangrede (music as tone speech) became the foundation of their performing style. Today, such musicians as Heinrich Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Maurizio Pollini and Sabine Meyer appear regularly with the quartet.
Praised for its unique ensemble sound, the Hagen Quartet has recorded more than 45 CDs on the Deutsche Gramophon label.
Gerstein, born in Russia in 1979, is one of today’s most intriguing young musicians. His masterful technique, musical curiosity and probing interpretations have led to explorations of classical music and jazz, advanced degrees by the age of 20, a professorship in piano by the age of 27. He was awarded first prize at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv, and since then his career has led him to playing recitals and concerts with leading orchestras and conductors in all the major music centers of the world. In 2010 he received the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, which is given to an exceptional pianist who possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma and who desires and can sustain a career as a major international concert artist.
On May 25, the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, (03) 692- 7777. On May 24, the Jerusalem Theater, * 3221.