Belcea Quartet

Passion, coupled with precision, unheard-of expressivity and pure emotion characterize the concerts of the Belcea Quartet. With the Romanian violinist Cori na Belcea, the Korean-Australian Suyeon Kang on second violin, the Polish violist Krzysztof Chorzelski and the French cellist Antoine Lederlin, four different artistic provenances meet and unite to create unique excellence.

The ensemble's repertoire spans Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven to Bartok, Janacek to Szymanowski. They also continue to introduce new works by current composers to the audience such as Julian Anderson (2024), Guillaume Connesson (2023), Joseph Phibbs (2018), Krzysztof Penderecki (2016), Thomas Larcher (2015) and Mark-Anthony Turnage (2014 & 2010). These commissioned works are created in association with the Belcea Quarte Trust, the quartet's own foundation, whose aim is to continually broaden the string quartet literature as well as to support young quartets through concentrated joint coaching sessions. ln this way they can also pass on to the next generation the experience they gained as students of the Amadeus & Alban Berg Quartet.

ln addition to the complete recordings of the String Quartets by Bart6k, Beethoven, Brahms (Diapason d'or de l'année 2016) and Britten, the quartet's wide-ranging discography includes works by Berg, Dutilleux, Mozart, Schoenberg, Schubert, Shostakovich, Janacek & Ligeti (among others). ln spring 2022, Alpha Classics released the two String Sextets by Brahms performed with Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras. Their performances of all Beethoven String Quartets at the Konzerthaus Vienna in 2012 were released on DVD by EuroArts in 2014, followed by the release of a recording of Britten's three String Quartets in 2015.

From 2017 to 2020, the quartet held the prestigious position of Ensemble in Residence at the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin. Since then, they have performed there regularly. ln addition, the Belcea Quartet has been part of a shared String Quartet series at the Vienna Konzerthaus since 201 O. The Quatuor Ébène has been the partner ensemble in this series since the 21 /22 season.

The Belcea Quartet's concert season will take them to such renowned venues as Stockholm's Konserthus, London's Wigmore Hall, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and Flagey in Brussels. A highlight of the season will be an octet tour shared with the Quatuor Ébène in North and South America, as well as in Asia. They will perform at New York's Carnegie Hall, Sao Paulo's Teatro Cultura Artistica and the Great Hall of the Lee Shau Kee Lecture Center in Hong Kong.

Instruments

Corina Belcea: Violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1755) kindly on loan by MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna

Suyeon Kang: custom-made violin by Julia Maria Pasch 

Krzysztof Chorzelski: Viola by Nicola Amati (ca. 1670)

Antoine Lederlin: Cello by Matteo Gofriller (1722) kindly on loan by MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna