BEETHOVEN L.v. STRING QUARTET Op.18 No.3, STRING QUARTET Op.18 No.4 / Wihan Quartet

1.-4. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - String Quartet in D majo Op.18, No.3

5.-8. Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet in D major Op.18, No.4

Leoš Čepický violin

Jan Schulmeister violin

Jiří Žigmund viola

Aleš Kaspřík cello

The Wihan Quartet, formed in 1985, are heirs to the great Czech musical tradition. The Quartet's outstanding reputation for the interpretation of its native Czech heritage and of the many classical, romantic and modern masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire is widely acknowledged.

They have developed an impressive international career, which includes visits to major festivals in Europe and the Far East. They visit the United States and Japan regularly and have had highly acclaimed tours of Australia and New Zealand. They are frequent visitors to the UK and can often be heard on BBC Radio 3 as well as in concert at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, the South Bank and many other venues throughout the country.

The Wihan Quartet has won many International Competitions including The Prague Spring Festival and the Osaka 'Chamber Festa'. In 1991, they won both the First Prize and the Audience Prize in the London International String Quartet Competition.

During 2008 the Quartet completed the first ever cycle of Beethoven Quartets in Prague and also repeated this cycle at Blackheath Halls, London. "Their unanimity of conception was admirably and readily apparent in the opening concert" Musical Opinion."

"This was an outstanding recital. The performance of the first of the expansive Razumovsky Quartets, Opus 59 was inspired and gripping from beginning to end." Musical Pointers

The Wihan are Quartet in Residence at Trinity College of Music, London, and for several years have taught many of the UK's gifted young Quartets at Pro Corda in Suffolk. The Quartet are great supporters of the work of the CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust, giving inspirational concerts and master classes to young people in many parts of the country.

Leoš Čepický plays on a 2003 prize-winning violin by Jan Spidlen, owned by the violin dealer Mila Strnad. Jan Schulmeister plays on a Jan Baptista Dvořák violin (1879) and Jiří Žigmund's viola is a 1659 Andrea Hieronimus Amati, on permanent loan from the Czech State collection. Aleš Kaspřík's cello was made in Paris in 1890 by Henri Thouvenel.

(www.wihanquartet.co.uk)