The famous Steich Quartet plays works by Haydn, Schulhoff, Beethoven
"New Year's Concert " - Schumann Quartet
Erik Schumann, violin; Ken Schumann, violin, Veit Hertenstein, viola, Mark Schumann, violoncello
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): String Quartet in D major op. 20 no. 4 Hob III: 34
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942): String Quartet No. 1
Intermission
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) : String Quartet No. 7 in F major op. 59 No. 1''Razumovsky''
Schumann Quartet
Erik Schumann, violin, Ken Schumann, violin, Veit Hertenstein, viola, Mark Schumann, violoncello
The Schumann Quartet has arrived at a place where anything is possible, because they have renounced certainties. This also includes the audience, who have to be prepared for anything every evening: "A work only really develops live," they say, "that's 'the real thing', because we never know what will happen beforehand. On stage at the latest, any imitation falls away and you automatically become honest with yourself. Then you can establish a connection with the audience in the music, communicate.
The three brothers Mark, Erik and Ken Schumann have been playing together since their earliest childhood and now Veit Hertenstein completes the quartet as violist. The four enjoy non-verbal communication. Different personalities emerge more clearly, while at the same time a common space is created in each musical work, a spiritual metamorphosis takes place. This openness and curiosity are possibly the decisive influences of teachers such as Eberhard Feltz, the Alban Berg Quartet or partners such as Menahem Pressler.
Awards, publications - stages are often constructed in order to deduce why many consider the Schumann Quartet to be among the very best today. The four musicians see such data more as encounters, as confirmation of their path. "We are keen to take it to the extreme, to try out how the tension and our shared spontaneity can be sustained," says Ken Schumann. They charmingly sidestep attempts to assign them a sound, a position, a playing style, letting the concerts alone speak for themselves. And critics agree with them: "Fire and energy. The Schumann Quartet plays stunningly well [...] undoubtedly one of the very best formations of the current quartet heyday, [...] sparkling virtuosity and a willingness to surprise" (Harald Eggebrecht in the SZ). Their third album "Intermezzo" (2018 | Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Schumann and
Reimann) has been very well received nationally and internationally and was awarded the Opus Klassik in the chamber music recording category in 2019.
Highlights of the 2024/2025 season included concerts at the renowned Suntory Hall in Tokyo, an extensive quartet tour of North America and concerts in Brussels, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. The quartet has also performed at the Wigmore Hall London, the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, to name but a few.
Erik Schumann plays a violin made by Joseph Guarneri filius Andrea in 1690, kindly loaned to him by the Guadagnini Foundation Stuttgart. Ken Schumann plays an old Italian violin from the middle of the 18th century, kindly made available to him privately. Veit Hertenstein plays a viola by the Amati brothers from 1616. Mark Schumann plays a cello by Giovanni & Francesco Grancino from 1680, generously loaned to him by MERITO Sit Vienna.
