Barbican Quartet: A unique chamber music experience at Draiflessen

We are happy to welcome the Barbican Quartet, one of the most exciting new voices on the international chamber music scene, live in Draiflessen.The ensemble inspires with a distinctive sound and profound interpretations that encompass both classical and contemporary repertoire.

In September 2022, the quartet won first prize at the 71st ARD International String Quartet Competition and has received numerous awards for their outstanding performances. The quartet succeeds in bringing out the individual strengths of its members and at the same time merging them into a homogeneous whole. The Barbican Quartet are Amarins Wierdsma (violin), Kate Maloney (violin), Christoph Slenczka (viola) and Yoanna Prodanova (cello).

“A desire to take risks”, “not afraid to push the boundaries” and “it shows a clear signature: with its very individual sound, with the emotional interpretations, but also with the program.”
This is how Marcus Stäbler describes the Barbican Quartet’s playing in the “Album of the Week” on NDR Kultur in June 2024.

“Well-balanced sound and perfectly coordinated.” BR Klassik’s review of the debut album “Manifesto on Love”, released in June 2024, is consistently positive.

The name says it all. The term “barbican” refers to the defensive structure in front of the gate of a medieval town. And this is how the four international musicians want to be understood: As defenders of the tradition of string quartet playing as well as its further development. The quartet gave its first concert at the Barbican Centre and the name is a reminder that the ensemble has close ties to London.

The Barbican Quartet has become an original voice on the international chamber music scene. It is not afraid to challenge with thoughtful, powerful interpretations. The classical music journal Pizzicato praised the “intoxicating, sometimes even a little boiling interpretations (…), which, however, cannot leave you cold” and honored the CD with the Supersonic Award.

A challenge at its best.

Program*:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Five four-part fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier Part II by Johann Sebastian Bach arranged for string quartet, KV 405 (probably 1782/83):
1st Fugue in C minor after BWV 871
2nd Fugue in E flat major after BWV 876
3rd Fugue in E major after BWV 878
4th Fugue in D minor after BWV 877 in D flat minor
5. Fugue in D major after BWV 874 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847)
String Quartet in A minor op. 13 (1827):
I. Adagio – Allegro vivace
II. Adagio non lento
III. Intermezzo. Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto
IV. Finale. Presto – Adagio non lento

—Pause—

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Two four-part Fantasias (ca. 1680):
Fantasia in C minor Z. 738
Fantasia in A minor Z. 740 Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
String Quartet in F major (1902/3):
I. Allegro moderato. Très doux
II. Assez vif. Très rythmé
III. Très lent
IV. Vif et agité

*Subject to change without notice.