This July the highly praised Škampa Quartet make a welcome return to the United Kingdom for seven concerts, including several summer festivals. To coincide with the release of their recording of late Beethoven String Quartets op.127 & op.135 on the Supraphon label in July, the composer’s last quartet will be included in nearly all their concerts. The Škampa Quartet stunned audiences at the Aldeburgh Festival last year with their breathtaking performance of this quartet. The concert was broadcast twice on Radio 3 and received an ecstatic response, revealing the great affinity the Škampa Quartet have with Beethoven’s music.
A theme running through their summer programmes is their choice of works written in the final or penultimate years of several composers’ lives. Both Beethoven’s string quartet op.135 and Janáček’s Intimate Letters were the composers’ last completed works. Quartet K589 was Mozart’s penultimate quartet written a year before his death. As usual Czech music is a feature of many of their programmes.
Other musical highlights will be their collaboration with Melvyn Tan in Schumann’s Piano Quintet op.44 and Nikolai Demidenko in Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet.
12th July Cheltenham International Festival of Music
Mozart K.589, Beethoven op.135, Suk Mediation, Janáček no.2
17th July Chester Summer Music Festival
Mozart K.589, Janáček no.1, Dvořak American op.96
21st July The Barn, Hill House, Carlton with Melvyn Tan
Mozart K.589, Beethoven op.135, Schumann Piano Quintet op.44
22nd July Wigmore Hall with Melvyn Tan
Mozart K.589, Beethoven op.135, Schumann Piano Quintet op.44
24th July Harrogate Festival with Melvyn Tan
Mozart K.589, Beethoven op.135, Schumann Piano Quintet op.44
25th July Fishguard International Music Festival with Nikolai Demidenko Mozart K.589, Beethoven op.135, Shostakovich Piano Quintet
27th July Cambridge Summer Music Recitals with Nikolai Demidenko
Mozart K.589, Beethoven op.135, Shostakovich Piano Quintet
To book tickets to the above:
Venues Box office
Cheltenham Festival Pitville Pump Room 01242 277979
Chester Summer Music Festival Town Hall 01244 320700
Hill House, Carlton The Barn 01234 269519
Wigmore Hall 0207 935 2141
Harrogate Festival Harrogate Theatre 01423 537230
Fishguard Festival School Concert Hall 01348 873612
Cambridge Summer Music Great St Mary’s 01223 503333
For further information on the Skampa Quartet and copies of their latest Beethoven recording, please contact:
Nicky Thomas @ Valerie Barber PR
Suite 300, Mappin House, 4 Winsley Street, London W1N 7AR
Tel: 0207 436 1115/6/7 Fax: 0207 436 5090