Alban Berg Quartett | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Vienna, Austria |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation | Chamber ensemble |
| Years active | 1971–2008 |
| Labels | Teldec,EMI |
TheAlban Berg Quartett (ABQ) was astring quartet founded in Vienna, named after the composerAlban Berg. Active from 1970 to 2008, the group included first violinistGünter Pichler and cellistValentin Erben, while the second violinist was brieflyKlaus Maetzl (1971–1978) andGerhard Schulz from then onwards. The violist changed the most,Hatto Beyerle,Thomas Kakuska andIsabel Charisius.
The Berg Quartet was founded in 1970 by four young professors of theVienna Academy of Music, and made its debut in theVienna Konzerthaus in autumn 1971. The widow of the composerAlban Berg, Helene, attended an early private concert after which she gave her consent for the quartet to use her husband's name.
The Quartet's repertoire was centered on the Viennese classics, but with a serious emphasis on20th-century classical music. It was the stated goal of the quartet to include at least one modern work in each performance. Their repertoire spanned from Early Classicism,Romanticism, to theSecond Viennese School (Alban Berg,Arnold Schoenberg,Anton Webern),Béla Bartók and embraced many contemporary composers.[1] This took expression not the least in personal statements by composers likeWitold Lutosławski andLuciano Berio, of whom the former said: "Personally I am indebted to the Alban Berg Quartet for an unforgettable event. Last year in Vienna, they played my quartet in a way such as will never be likely equaled."[2][3]
Following an invitation ofWalter Levin (founder of theLaSalle Quartet) the ABQ studied intensively for the better part of a year in the USA. The focus of their activities in Europe became annual concert cycles at theWiener Konzerthaus, at London'sQueen Elizabeth Hall, the FrankfurtAlte Oper, theThéâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Philharmonic Hall in Cologne, theZurich Opera, as well as regular concerts at most major halls and venues around the world (among themLa Scala,Concertgebow Amsterdam,Berliner Philharmonie,Carnegie Hall,Teatro Colón,Suntory Hall, etc.) and all the major music festivals such as theBerliner Festwochen, theEdinburgh Festival,IRCAM in thePompidou Centre, theMaggio Musicale Fiorentino, and theSalzburg Festival. The ABQ is an Honorary Member of the Wiener Konzerthaus and Associate Artist of theRoyal Festival Hall London.
From 1993 until 2012, the members of the Alban Berg Quartet were lecturing at theCologne Conservatory in succession of the Amadeus Quartet. Quartets who studied with the Alban Berg Quartet include theCuarteto Casals, the Schumann Quartett, the Amber Quartet (China), theFauré Quartet, the Aviv Quartet, thearon quartett [de], the Amaryllis Quartet, and in particular theBelcea Quartet, and theArtemis Quartet.[4]
The composers that wrote string quartets for the Alban Berg Quartet include, in chronological order,Fritz Leitermeyer [de],Erich Urbanner (Quartets Nos. 1 and 4),Roman Haubenstock-Ramati (Quartets Nos. 1 and 2),Gottfried von Einem (Quartet No. 1),Wolfgang Rihm (Quartet No. 4 and "Requiem for Thomas"),Alfred Schnittke (Quartet No. 4),Zbigniew Bargielski ("Les temps ardente"), Luciano Berio ("Notturno"), andKurt Schwertsik ("Adieu Satie").
In 2005, Thomas Kakuska died of cancer. In accordance with his wish, the ABQ continued performing with Isabel Charisius, a student of his. But as cellist Valentin Erben said, "There was a big rupture in our hearts"[5] and the quartet retired in 2008. The concert in memoriam Thomas Kakuska in the Wiener Konzerthaus' Großer Saal featured a who's-who of classical music, including an orchestra of friends and students of the quartet. Among them wereAngelika Kirchschlager,Elisabeth Leonskaja,Irvine Arditti,Magdalena Kožená,Thomas Quasthoff,Helmut Deutsch, Alois Posch,Heinrich Schiff, andSir Simon Rattle; the orchestra was conducted byClaudio Abbado. After a worldwide farewell tour in July 2008, the ABQ ended its career.[6][7]
Recordings were an important part of the work of the Alban Berg Quartet. Among the most famous recordings projects are the complete string quartets byBeethoven (EMI, which has sold more than a million copies), Brahms (Teldec and EMI), the late Haydn (EMI), the late Mozart (Teldec and EMI) and the late Schubert (EMI), but their repertoire on disc stretched further to Mendelssohn, Schumann,Janácek,Stravinsky, Berg, Webern, Bartók,von Einem, Lutosławski,Rihm, Berio,Haubenstock-Ramati toSchnittke and beyond. Many of the latter, contemporary, composers wrote works specially dedicated to the ABQ. After EMI released a live recording of their 1985 Carnegie Hall debut, the quartet preferred making live recordings for the last 20 years of its existence. Among them was—following their original studio Beethoven cycle from the late 70s and early 80s—a new Beethoven String Quartet cycle recorded live at the Konzerthaus during the Vienna Festival in 1989 and released on CD, video, and DVD.[8] The Alban Berg Quartet recorded chamber music with some of the finest soloists of their time, including the piano quintets ofRobert Schumann (withPhilippe Entremont), Schubert and Brahms (withElisabeth Leonskaja) and Dvoràk (withRudolf Buchbinder), the Schubertstring quintet (withHeinrich Schiff), the Brahms clarinet quintet (withSabine Meyer), and the Mozart piano quartets and the piano quintet arrangement of the concertoKV 414 (withAlfred Brendel). For their recordings, the ABQ received more than 30 international awards, among them theGrand Prix du Disque, theDeutscher Schallplattenpreis, the Japanese Grand Prix, theEdison Award, and theGramophone Award. Beyond recording, the ABQ collaborated regularly with the likes ofMaurizio Pollini,András Schiff, andTabea Zimmermann.
| Period | 1st violin | 2nd violin | Viola | Violoncello |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970–1978 | Günter Pichler | Klaus Maetzl (d. 2016) | Hatto Beyerle (d. 2023) | Valentin Erben |
| 1978–1981 | Gerhard Schulz | |||
| 1981–2005 | Thomas Kakuska (d. 2005) | |||
| 2005–2008 | Isabel Charisius |
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