Equilibrium String Quartet

Change of venue! Due to the forecast of a high probability of showers, and storms in the late afternoon, with a warning expected to be issued, today’s concert will take place in the Klarisky Concert Hall (Farská 4). Admission is free until the hall’s capacity is filled. Thank you for your understanding.

This year, for the first time, the untraditional scenery of Bratislava’s Botanical Garden provides an inimitable backdrop to one of Viva Musica! festival’s concerts. In this unusual and inspiring setting, the renowned Equilibrium String Quartet from Poland will give its performance. This chamber grouping, formed in 2017, specialises in historically informed performance on period instruments and discovering less-known chamber music of the 18th and 19th centuries. Equilibrium String Quartet aims above all to revitalise the work of Polish composers of that period, which is still insufficiently represented in the repertoire of chamber ensembles. In Bratislava these Polish artists will present a dramaturgy which comprises not only well-known pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Stanisław Moniuszko, but also the works of Karol Kurpiński and Józef Elsner, who are practically unknown to Slovak audiences. Elsner was an important Polish composer and teacher, and among his most famous pupils was the brightest star of Polish music, Fryderyk Chopin. Elsner’s work, although less well known in the broader international context, reflects the transition from classicism to romanticism and, thanks to its use of elements of Polish folk music, is an important component in the formation of the national music of Poland. Hence this concert, organised in collaboration with the Polish Institute in Bratislava, offers Slovak music-lovers an exceptional opportunity to listen to works by these composers and to make acquaintance with the less familiar Polish musical tradition.

Program

Józef Elsner (1769 – 1854)
String Quartet in C major, Op. 8, No. 1

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Five Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier for String Quartet, K. 405

Karol Kurpiński (1785 – 1857)
Fantasy for String Quartet

Stanisław Moniuszko (1819 – 1872)
String Quartet No. 1 in D minor

Performers

Equilibrium String Quartet
Sulamita Ślubowska / violin
Małgorzata Malke / violin
Anna Nowak-Pokrzywińska / viola
Tomasz Pokrzywiński / cello

Photo © Maciej Mulawa

We reserve the right to change the programme and performers.

Supported by