Hugo Wolf Quartett

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"New Stars on the Quartet Heaven" Der Standard, Vienna

Listen to Hugo Wolf Quartett on "WGBH Classical Performance" - website

Sebastian Gürtler, Violin
Régis Bringolf, Violin
Gertrud Weinmeister, Viola
Florian Berner, Cello

Within just a few short years the Hugo Wolf Quartett has developed from a chamber music lover's insider tip to one of the most sought after string quartets of its generation. Critics the world over have provided testimony to its rapid development: "New stars on the quartet heaven" (Der Standard, Vienna); "Urgent and impassioned, but with an absolute commitment to the ideal values of every note" (Los Angeles Times); "One hears in these players, embryonically and in miniature, the qualities that make the Vienna Philharmonic special" (New York Times).

The Hugo Wolf Quartett was founded at the Vienna Conservatory. Shortly thereafter, the four young musicians won the Fifth International String Quartet Competition in Cremona and took first prize at the 45th International G.B. Viotti Chamber Music Competition, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Special Prize, and the European Cultural Award for Chamber Music, and made their debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus, a moment that was celebrated by public and press alike.

The Hugo Wolf Quartett has concretized for over ten years in the most prominent concert halls and renowned festivals such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Berlin & Cologne, the Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Herkulessaal Munich, Tonhalle Zurich, Rudolfinum Prague, Mozarteum Salzburg, Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, Edinburgh Festival, Gidon Kremer's Lockenhaus Festival, Schubertiade Feldkirch, Carinthian Summer, L'été musical dans la vallée du Lot, Colmar Festival, and many others. Extensive concert tours regularly take the ensemble to South America, Mexico, Japan, and the USA.

In the 2007/08 season they embarked on two highly acclaimed tours in the USA performing 25 concerts coast to coast at prestigious chamber music series including Washington DC, Los Angeles, La Jolla and Pittsburgh, which led to re-invitations and appearances for the 2008/09 season at the Frick Collection in New York, Kreeger Museum, Washington DC, Chamber Music Society Chicago, Ottowa and Boston, where they also gave a live performance and interview at WGBH. During the summer 2008 they have a return engagement by Gidon Kremer for his festival and they will perform in the Caramoor, Chatauqua and Music Mountain festivals.

The Hugo Wolf Quartett has also been invited back to Northwestern University for ensemble coaching and master classes
For its tenth anniversary the Hugo Wolf Quartett established its own cycle in the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Composers Zbigniew Bargielski, Friedrich Cerha and Erich Urbanner wrote and dedicated these works especially for this occasion. The quartet's repertoire spans across the two Viennese Schools and has performed a number of world premieres which received high critical acclaim. In addition they have ventured into including the attractive Jazz work by Kenny Wheeler into their programs.

In 2007 Gidon Kremer invited the quartet to his Festival Lockenhaus and chose Bartok's Quartet #4 to be performed again on the season finale concert. CPO will release Franz Mittler's two string quartets this fall and a CAM Jazz production with Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor can be heard on the CD Other People. The Hugo Wolf Quartett has recorded for the Gramola, Atlantis Art and Extraplatte Labels, and appeared on numerous radio and television productions such as the BBC, Radio Berlin, KBS, ORF. They were awarded the ORF-Pasticcio Prize for Beethoven's op.18/4 and op.132.

The name was granted to the quartet by the International Hugo Wolf Society of Vienna. The late Romantic composer Hugo Wolf was situated between the great Viennese music tradition and its departure into the modern period; his name is thus used as a symbol for a performing repertoire stretching from the Classical period to music far beyond the Second Viennese School.

June 2008 - please destroy all previous versions