The Belcea Quartet
“What seems to be the predominant impulse driving this music is man’s yearning for freedom, the unquenchable desire to expand his limits and to learn the truth about himself in this process.”
Passion, coupled with precision, unheard-of expressivity and pure emotion characterize the concerts of the Belcea Quartet. With the Romanian violinist Corina 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 Guillaume Connesson (2023), Joseph Phibbs (2018), Krzysztof Penderecki (2016), Thomas Larcher (2015) and Mark-Anthony Turnage (2014 & 2010). A new work by Julian Anderson will be premiered this season. 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. In this way they can also pass on to the next generation the experience they gained as students of the Amadeus & Alban Berg Quartet.
In addition to the complete recordings of the String Quartets by Bartók, 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, Janáček & Ligeti (among others). In 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. In addition, the Belcea Quartet has been part of a shared String Quartet series at the Vienna Konzerthaus since 2010. Beginning last season, Quatuor Ébène became their partner ensemble here.
This season, the Belcea Quartet will be making guest appearances at the three prominent European String Quartet biennials in Paris, Lisbon, and Amsterdam. In addition, they will be performing at various esteemed venues including Carnegie Hall New York City, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Flagey Brussels, National Concert Hall Dublin, Tonhalle Zurich, and Toppan Hall Tokyo.
Leidenschaft, gepaart mit Präzision, unerhörter Expressivität und purer Emotionalität zeichnen die Konzerte des Belcea Quartet aus. Mit der rumänischen Violinistin Corina Belcea, der koreanisch-australischen Suyeon Kang an der zweiten Geige, dem polnischen Bratschisten Krzysztof Chorzelski und dem französischen Cellisten Antoine Lederlin treffen vier unterschiedliche künstlerische Herkünfte aufeinander und vereinen sich zu einzigartiger Exzellenz.
Die große Bandbreite ihres Repertoires reicht von Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok zu Janacek bis Szymanowski – außerdem stellen sie dem Publikum immer wieder neue Werke von aktuellen Komponisten wie Guillaume Connesson (2023), Joseph Phibbs (2018), Krzysztof Penderecki (2016), Thomas Larcher (2015) und Mark-Anthony Turnage (2014 & 2010) vor. Ein neues Werk von Julian Anderson wird das Ensemble in dieser Saison uraufführen. Diese Auftragswerke entstehen in Zusammenarbeit mit der Belcea Quartet Trust, der eigenen Stiftung des Quartetts, deren Ziel es zum einen ist die Streichquartettliteratur stetig zu erweitern und zum anderen junge Quartette durch gemeinsame konzentrierte Probenarbeit zu unterstützen. So können sie auch die Erfahrungen, die sie selbst als Schüler des Amadeus & Alban Berg Quartetts gemacht haben, an die nächste Generation weitergeben.
Neben den Gesamtaufnahmen der Streichquartette von Bartók, Beethoven,
Brahms (Diapason d’or de l’année 2016) und Britten kann das Quartett auf eine breitgefächerte Diskographie mit Aufnahmen (u.a.) von Berg, Dutilleux, Mozart, Schönberg, Schubert, Schostakowitsch, Janáček & Ligetis verweisen. Im Frühjahr 2022 erschien bei Alpha Classics die beiden Streichsextette von Brahms zusammen mit Tabea Zimmermann und Jean-Guihen Queyras.
2014 erschien bei EuroArts die Aufführungen der Beethoven Streichquartette aus dem Wiener Konzerthaus auf DVD, ein Jahr später folgten die Einspielung der drei Streichquartette von Britten.
Von 2017 bis 2020 hatte das Quartett die prestigeträchtige Position des Ensemble in Residence im Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin inne. Seitdem treten sie dort regelmäßig auf. Darüber hinaus ist das Belcea Quartett seit 2010 Teil einer geteilten Streichquartettreihe im Wiener Konzerthaus. Seit der letzten Saison ist das Quatuor Ébène ihr Partnerensemble in dieser Reihe.
In dieser Saison gastiert das Belcea Quartet bei den drei großen europäischen Streichquartett-Biennalen in Paris, Lissabon und Amsterdam und konzertiert (u.a.) in der Carnegie Hall New York City, der Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, im Flagey Brüssel, in der National Concert Hall Dublin, in der Tonhalle Zürich und der Toppan Hall Toyko.
La passion, alliée à la précision et à une grande expressivité caractérise les exécutions du Belcea Quartet. Corina Belcea, premier violon, roumaine, Suyeon Kang, coréo-australienne, second violon, l’altiste polonais Krzysztof Chorzelski et Antoine Lederlin, violoncelliste français, unissent leurs origines artistiques différentes pour enrichir leur compréhension et interprétation des œuvres et susciter l’émotion.
L’éventail de leur répertoire embrasse toute la musique écrite pour quatuor de Haydn, Mozart, et Beethoven, jusqu’à Bartok, Janacek, Britten et Szymanowski. En outre, ils présentent régulièrement au public des œuvres de compositeurs actuels comme Guillaume Connesson (2023), Joseph Phibbs (2018), Krzysztof Penderecki (2016), Thomas Larcher (2015) et Mark-Anthony Turnage (2014 & 2010). Une nouvelle œuvre de Julian Anderson sera créée par l’ensemble cette saison. Ces œuvres de commande sont créées en collaboration avec la propre fondation du quatuor, dont l’objectif est d’une part d’élargir la littérature pour quatuor à cordes, et d’autre part de soutenir les jeunes quatuors par leur enseignement, transmettant ainsi à la génération suivante leurs propres expériences reçues auprès des quatuor Amadeus & Alban Berg.
Outre les intégrales des quatuors à cordes de Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms (Diapason d’or de l’année 2016) et Britten, les Belcea peuvent se targuer
d’une discographie très diversifiée avec entre autres, des enregistrements de Berg, Dutilleux, Mozart, Schönberg, Schubert, Chostakovitch, Janáček & Ligeti. Au printemps 2022, Alpha Classics a publié les deux sextuors à cordes de Brahms avec Tabea Zimmermann et Jean-Guihen Queyras. En 2014, EuroArts a publié en DVD les interprétations des quatuors à cordes de Beethoven au Konzerthaus de Vienne, suivies un an plus tard par l’enregistrement des trois quatuors à cordes de Britten.
De 2017 à 2020, le quatuor a été distingué comme ensemble en résidence à la prestigieuse salle Pierre Boulez de Berlin . Depuis, ils s’y produisent régulièrement. En outre, les Belcea sont invités depuis 2010 au Konzerthaus de Vienne à une programmation de quatuors à cordes qu’ils partagent depuis la saison dernière avec le Quatuor Ébène.
Cette saison, le Belcea Quartet est invité aux trois grandes biennales européennes de quatuors à cordes à Paris, Lisbonne et Amsterdam et sera entendu au Carnegie Hall de New York City, à l’Elbphilharmonie de Hambourg, au Flagey de Bruxelles, au National Concert Hall de Dublin, à la Tonhalle de Zurich et au Toppan Hall de Toyko.
Corina Belcea
Corina Belcea was born in Romania in 1975 and studied the violin with Radu Bozgan and Stefan Gheorghiu. At the age of 16 she was invited by Sir Yehudi Menuhin to study at his school in England where her teacher was Natalia Boyarskaya. She continued her studies at the Royal College of Music with Felix Andrievsky where, in 1994 she founded the Belcea quartet.
Corina is a prize winner at the Yehudi Menuhin, Kloster Schöntal and Wieniawski competitions and has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Queen Elisabeth Hall and Purcell Room in London, Atheneum Bucharest, Theatre des Châtelet and Champs-Élysée. Together with the Belcea quartet she has won the Bordeaux and the Osaka competitions.
Corina was professor of chamber music at the Guildhall school of music and drama in London and since 2011 she is Violin Professor at the University for the Arts in Bern. She has served on the jury for the ARD chamber music competition in Munich and the Queen Elisabeth violin competition in Brussels and has recently started coaching violin and chamber music at the Queen Elisabeth music Chapel.
This year she will be chairwoman of the Geneva International String Quartet competition. Recent solo performances include Brahms double concerto with her husband Antoine Lederlin and Warsaw Philharmonic and the Ysaÿe double sonata with Vilde Frang.
Corina Belcea plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1755)
kindly on loan from MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna
Corina Belcea
Corina Belcea was born in Romania in 1975 and studied the violin with Radu Bozgan and Stefan Gheorghiu. At the age of 16 she was invited by Sir Yehudi Menuhin to study at his school in England where her teacher was Natalia Boyarskaya. She continued her studies at the Royal College of Music with Felix Andrievsky where, in 1994 she founded the Belcea quartet.
Corina is a prize winner at the Yehudi Menuhin, Kloster Schöntal and Wieniawski competitions and has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Queen Elisabeth Hall and Purcell Room in London, Atheneum Bucharest, Theatre des Châtelet and Champs-Élysée. Together with the Belcea quartet she has won the Bordeaux and the Osaka competitions.
Corina was professor of chamber music at the Guildhall school of music and drama in London and since 2011 she is Violin Professor at the University for the Arts in Bern. She has served on the jury for the ARD chamber music competition in Munich and the Queen Elisabeth violin competition in Brussels and has recently started coaching violin and chamber music at the Queen Elisabeth music Chapel.
This year she will be chairwoman of the Geneva International String Quartet competition. Recent solo performances include Brahms double concerto with her husband Antoine Lederlin and Warsaw Philharmonic and the Ysaÿe double sonata with Vilde Frang.
Corina Belcea plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1755)
kindly on loan from MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna
Suyeon Kang
Korean – Australian violinist Suyeon Kang was born in 1989 and has been based in Europe since the age of 17. Currently living Berlin, she enjoys a fulfilling and creative musical life. She is a founding member of Trio Boccherini (String Trio) and was appointed Concertmaster of the Kammerakademie Potsdam in 2021. A prizewinner of several international violin competitions i.e. Yehudi Menuhin, Michael Hill, Leopold Mozart & Indianapolis, Suyeon performs regularly as a soloist, a sought-out chamber musician in music festivals worldwide, and more frequently in recent years in a Play/Direct leader capacity with several leading chamber orchestras throughout Europe and Asia.
In late 2023 she will begin teaching a violin class at the Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, previously having served as teaching assistant to Antje Weithaas.
Suyeon joins the Belcea Quartet in 2023 and plays on a custom made violin by Julia Maria Pasch (Vienna, 2019).
Suyeon Kang
Korean – Australian violinist Suyeon Kang was born in 1989 and has been based in Europe since the age of 17. Currently living Berlin, she enjoys a fulfilling and creative musical life. She is a founding member of Trio Boccherini (String Trio) and was appointed Concertmaster of the Kammerakademie Potsdam in 2021. A prizewinner of several international violin competitions i.e. Yehudi Menuhin, Michael Hill, Leopold Mozart & Indianapolis, Suyeon performs regularly as a soloist, a sought-out chamber musician in music festivals worldwide, and more frequently in recent years in a Play/Direct leader capacity with several leading chamber orchestras throughout Europe and Asia.
In late 2023 she will begin teaching a violin class at the Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, previously having served as teaching assistant to Antje Weithaas.
Suyeon joins the Belcea Quartet in 2023 and plays on a custom made violin by Julia Maria Pasch (Vienna, 2019).
Antoine Lederlin
French cellist Antoine Lederlin was born in 1975. He completed his studies at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris in the class of Roland Pidoux.
He became solo cello at the Orchestre Philarmonique de Radio France at the age of 19 , and is currently solo cello at the SInfonie Orchester Basel .
He recorded the Schoeck cello concerto with Armin Jordan and Orchestre de chambre d’auvergne and plays trio concerts regularly with the violonist Midori and the pianist Jonathan Biss. His other chamber music partners include Martha Argerich, Leon Fleisher, Miriam Fried.
Antoine Lederlin has been the cellist of the Belcea Quartet since 2006.
Antoine Lederlin plays a cello by Matteo Gofriller (1722)
kindly on loan from MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna
Antoine Lederlin
French cellist Antoine Lederlin was born in 1975. He completed his studies at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris in the class of Roland Pidoux.
He became solo cello at the Orchestre Philarmonique de Radio France at the age of 19 , and is currently solo cello at the SInfonie Orchester Basel .
He recorded the Schoeck cello concerto with Armin Jordan and Orchestre de chambre d’auvergne and plays trio concerts regularly with the violonist Midori and the pianist Jonathan Biss. His other chamber music partners include Martha Argerich, Leon Fleisher, Miriam Fried.
Antoine Lederlin has been the cellist of the Belcea Quartet since 2006.
Antoine Lederlin plays a Cello by Matteo Gofriller (1722)
kindly on loan from MERITO String Instruments Trusts Vienna
Krzysztof Chorzelski
Krzysztof Chorzelski was born in Warsaw in 1971 and enjoys a diverse career as a performing musician that has taken him all over the world as violist of the acclaimed Belcea Quartet, chamber musician and soloist.
In 1992 he won the Wronski Solo Violin Competition in Warsaw and has subsequently performed as a recitalist and concerto soloist in Europe, making recordings for Polish Radio and the BBC. In 1996 became the viola player in the Belcea Quartet In 2006 he was invited by the Alban Berg Quartet to perform as a guest violist in a series of concerts celebrating the 250th Anniversary of Mozart’s birth in the Konzerthaus, Vienna. He performs as soloist with European orchestras, such as Sinfonia Varsovia and Real Filarmonia de Galicia. He also has a keen interest in commissioning new works for the viola from today’s leading composers. Recent premieres include a Viola Sonata by Pawel Szymanski and “Letters from Warsaw” by Joseph Phibbs. In August 2015 in Warsaw he also gave the world premiere of a recently discovered Viola Sonata by Andre Tchaikowsky.
Krzysztof’s recital cd which he recorded with the pianist Katya Apekisheva was released in February 2012 and was met with critical acclaim.
Krzysztof has a keen interest in conducting. His recording of Ittai Shapira’s Violin Concerto “Concierto Latino” with the London Serenata Orchestra and the composer as soloist has recently been released by Champs Hill Records. He recently conducted the Young Israel Philharmonic and will be returning there next year for further projects with the orchestra.
Krzysztof Chorzelski plays a viola by Nicola Amati (ca.1670)
Krzysztof Chorzelski
Krzysztof Chorzelski was born in Warsaw in 1971 and enjoys a diverse career as a performing musician that has taken him all over the world as violist of the acclaimed Belcea Quartet, chamber musician and soloist.
In 1992 he won the Wronski Solo Violin Competition in Warsaw and has subsequently performed as a recitalist and concerto soloist in Europe, making recordings for Polish Radio and the BBC. In 1996 became the viola player in the Belcea Quartet In 2006 he was invited by the Alban Berg Quartet to perform as a guest violist in a series of concerts celebrating the 250th Anniversary of Mozart’s birth in the Konzerthaus, Vienna. He performs as soloist with European orchestras, such as Sinfonia Varsovia and Real Filarmonia de Galicia. He also has a keen interest in commissioning new works for the viola from today’s leading composers. Recent premieres include a Viola Sonata by Pawel Szymanski and “Letters from Warsaw” by Joseph Phibbs. In August 2015 in Warsaw he also gave the world premiere of a recently discovered Viola Sonata by Andre Tchaikowsky.
Krzysztof’s recital cd which he recorded with the pianist Katya Apekisheva was released in February 2012 and was met with critical acclaim.
Krzysztof has a keen interest in conducting. His recording of Ittai Shapira’s Violin Concerto “Concierto Latino” with the London Serenata Orchestra and the composer as soloist has recently been released by Champs Hill Records. He recently conducted the Young Israel Philharmonic and will be returning there next year for further projects with the orchestra.
Krzysztof Chorzelski plays a viola by Nicola Amati (ca.1670)