YELLOW SPRINGS — Chamber Music in Yellow Springs is welcoming Bennewitz String Quartet, a Czech group acclaimed for “great art,” “clarity of structure,” … beautiful tonal palette and purity of intonation,” according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, beginning 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11.
The concert will take place in the First Presbyterian Church, 314 Xenia Ave. Wright State University Professor Emeritus Chuck Larkowski will give a preconcert lecture at 6:45 p.m.
The Bennewitz String Quartet (Jakub Fišer, first violin; Štěpán Ježek, second violin; Jiří Pinkas, viola; and Štěpán Doležal, cello) has won prestigious international competitions in Osaka and Italy. The quartet currently performs at major venues such as Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Wien, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris, and The Frick Collection New York, and is regularly invited to festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele and Rheingau Musik Festival.
The Bennewitz Quartet especially enjoys playing and performing on the Czech domestic music scene, for example, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. In keeping with its mission to actively promote Czech music, the quartet has chosen for its February 11 concert Leoš Janáček’s Quartet no. 2, “Intimate Letters”; Bedřich Smetana’s Quartet no. 1 in E minor, “From My Life”; and Antonin Dvořák’s Quartet in G major, op. 106, bringing to its American audience “a big program offering the very best of Czech string quartet repertoire featuring three most important composers for our music tradition.”
The Bennewitz Quartet’s recordings have received rave reviews. Its recording on the Coviello Classics label of Janáček’s two string quartets and Béla Bartók’s fourth garnered praise for its “fiery temperament” (Fono Forum); the website Klassik.com described as “simply phenomenal” its recording of both of Smetana’s quartets. Its 2015 release of Dvořák’s quartets op. 51 and op. 106, under the SWR Music/Naxos label, became the Choice of Harmonie magazine and the Editor’s choice.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $7 for full-time students with identification. More information can be found at www.cmys.org or by phoning 937-374-8800. Tickets may also be available for purchase at the door.
Future CMYS concerts in the current season include the Brazilian String Quartet (March 25) and the Annual Competition for Emerging Professional Ensembles (April 29). CMYS is grateful for grant support from the Ohio Arts Council and the Yellow Springs Community Foundation, helping to bring fine chamber music to area audiences.
