Armida Quartett FUGA MAGNA

Since its success at the ARD International Competition in 2012, at which the Armida Quartet took First Prize, the Audience Prize and six other special awards, the career of the young Berlin string quartet has developed sensationally. 

Founded in Berlin in 2006, the quartet took its name from an opera by Haydn, the “father of the string quartet”. Still receiving the tutelage of Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) and Reinhard Goebel, the ensemble has also studied with members of the Artemis Quartet for several years.

The Armida Quartet won first prize at the Geneva Competition in 2011 and received several scholarships, including those of the Irene Steels-Wilsing Foundation and the Schierse Foundation in Berlin. The Armida Quartet is also taking part in the BBC New Generation Artists’ scheme between 2014 and 2016.

Armida Quartett MOZART String Quartets K. 169 - 464 - 589

The members of the Armida quartet have taken a very close look at the original manuscript of Mozart’s Quartet in A Major, K. 464. It is one of the six Haydn Quartets which he wrote after a ten-year hiatus in the genre. This time he dedicated the six works to Haydn in person: al mio caro amico Haydn – “to my dear friend Haydn”, with whom he was now making music in Vienna on a regular basis. Here, once more, Mozart was “reacting” to works written by his model: Haydn’s op. 33, to be specific. Johanna Staemmler notes: “Mozart seemed to have no interest in trying to please someone with this work”. Funda adds: “The first movement sets in rather sparsely, sounding like an uncertain quest”. “And in the last movement, a chorale emerges out of nowhere! Mozart was clearly composing music that would make him reach beyond his own horizons.” Johanna Staemmler pursues. In these quartets he was not writing for his large Vienna audience. While keeping them thrilled and happy with concertos and sym- phonies, he was embarking on a quasi-elitist exchange with Haydn. Spurred by his friend’s evident genius, he wanted to present him with his own ideas, staking everything in the game. And Haydn react- ed with the highest praise. He avowed to Mozart’s father: “As an honest man I swear to you before God: your son is the greatest composer I have ever met or heard of”. Funda points out that the parts in this quartet are more equally distributed. In fact, the part of the 2nd violin is a masterpiece in itself, as his colleague remarks: “This is an incredible part, in utter contrast with the 2nd violin in Quartet K. 169.” Staemmler particularly loves the D Minor variation in the 2nd movement: “Mozart’s creative process is quite interesting: he originally added this variation at the end of the movement, on the last page, as No. 6, but then chose to insert it as the 4th variation. In the score it’s fascinating to note how his plan evolved. You can tell that he was grappling with his own ideas. I am convinced that one should perform from the manuscript, which is much more inspiring than present-day printed scores with their predictably correct layout. In the autograph we see which emotions took hold of him – whether Mozart was composing tranquilly or in a rage; at ease, or pressed for time.”

Antje Weithaas / Camerata Bern JOHANNES BRAHMS Violin Concerto - String Quintet op. 111

Founded in 1962, the CAMERATA BERN is a highly-acclaimed chamber orchestra uniting top level musicians inspired by the idea of performing within a flexible, self-conducted ensemble.

Its members are gifted soloists and chamber musicians. Under its artistic director, the violinist ANTJE WEITHAAS, as well as guest concertmasters Erich Höbarth, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Pekka Kuusisto, Amandine Beyer, Enrico Onofri and others, CAMERATA BERN performs a broad repertoire ranging from early Baroque to today’s composers. The orchestra stands out for its subtle and perfectly homogeneous sound, its freshness and mastery of style. With charisma and spontaneity adding to its ability to thrill its public, CAMERATA BERN is now renowned as one of the prime ensembles among chamber orchestras in Europe.

The ensemble’s outstanding qualities has led it to perform with such eminent artists as Heinz Holliger, András Schiff, Vadim Repin, Alexander Lonquich, Jörg Widmann, Sabine Meyer, Tabea Zimmermann, Vessilina Kasarova, Bernd Glemser, Christian Gerhaher, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Maurice André, Bruno Canino, Radu Lupu, Peter Serkin, Gidon Kremer, Nathan Milstein, Boris Pergamenshikov, Narciso Yepes, Pepe Romero, Barbara Hendricks, Peter Schreier, Jan Vogler, Reinhold Friedrich, Leonidas Kavakos, Angelika Kirchschlager and others.

The ensemble has toured extensively in Europe, South- and North-America, as well as in South-East Asia, the Far East, Australia and Japan. Its recordings on Sony, Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv, Decca, Denon, ERATO, Berlin Classics, Novalis, ECM, Claves and Philips have won several international awards, such as the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Grand Prix International du Disque, the International Record Critics Award, the Record Academy Prize, and the Prize Echo Klassik ‘97 of the Deutsche Phono-Akademie. The latest CD-releases feature Antje Weithaas in a Beethoven programme (CAVI, September 2012). The next CD will be released in September 2015 with Antje Weithaas as soloist in Brahms’ Violin Concerto.

Lately, CAMERATA BERN has performed at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato/Mexico, Morelia Festival in Mexico, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, in the Sala Sao Paulo, at the Teatro Solis in Montevideo, at Geneva’s Victoria Hall, at deSingel in Antwerp.

Within its large scale educational project for children since 2010, the CAMERATA BERN performs concerts in schools across the Canton of Bern. The project developed in the frame of the Education Department’s “Education and culture” programme has reached over 10’000 children up to now, mainly in the canton’s rural areas.

The CAMERATA BERN also focuses on historically informed performance and performs an early music concert series in Bern. (Squire Artists)