Thursday 17 November 2011
Navarra String Quartet
Magnus Johnston - violin
Marije Ploemacher - violin
Simone van der Giessen - viola
Nathaniel Boyd - cello
In 2008 the Navarra Quartet won the Outstanding Young Artist Award at the MIDEM Classique Awards in Cannes. They were selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust in 2006 and in 2007 received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship culminating in a highly acclaimed disc of Haydn’s 7 Last Words.
At the opening of the 2009/10 season the Quartet returned to Australia to give recitals in Melbourne, Sydney and the Huntingdon Estate Music Festival under the auspices of Musica Viva. They went on to appear at Wigmore Hall, Bath Festival and Aldeburgh, and gave recitals in France (as Laureates of the Aix-en-Provence Festival), Switzerland, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands.
In 2010 the Quartet released their first CD for Challenge Records of Peteris Vasks’ Quartets to critical acclaim and were nominated for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. They took part in the BBC Proms Chamber music series at Cadogan Hall with pianist Francesco Piemontesi and made their debut at the Berlin Konzerthaus. Engagements this season include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Perth Concert Hall and Bath Festival (broadcast by Radio 3), Presteigne and Bellerive Festivals and at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Mark Padmore as part of the International Chamber Music Series. Future plans include debut concerts at the Louvre in Paris, the Oslo, Riga Chamber Music and Muensterland Festivals, and return visits to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Perth Concert Hall and Lammermuir Festival in Scotland. The Quartet also give concerts throughout the Netherlands and record a second CD for Challenge Classics.
Formed in 2002 at the Royal Northern College of Music under the guidance of the late Dr Christopher Rowland and Alasdair Tait, and latterly as postgraduate students of the Alban Berg Quartet in Cologne, they are now Quartet in Association at the RNCM. In 2007 the Quartet won 2nd Prize at the Melbourne International Competition and in 2005 1st Prize in the Florence International Competition.
Over the last two years the Quartet has increasingly developed their international profile, appearing at major festivals and venues throughout Europe including the Philharmonie in Luxembourg, the Schwetzinger, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festivals in Germany, the Aix-en-Provence and Bellerive Festivals and the Kattegat and Sandviken Festivals in Sweden. Further afield they have given concerts in Russia, the USA and Bahrain.
In 2009 they took part in the Haydn series at Wigmore Hall (broadcast by BBC Radio 3) and recorded Haydn’s 7 Last Words on the Cross for Altara Records for which they commissioned 9 paintings for illustrated performances from the world-renowned artist Jamie Boyd. They also worked with Wayne MacGregor’s Random Dance Company on a new work (Entity) with music by Joby Talbot giving a series of performances at Sadler’s Wells, Snape Maltings and the Muziektheater in Amsterdam.
The Quartet has collaborated with the Elias, Australian, Heath and Sacconi Quartets, Li-Wei, Matthew Barley, Richard Harwood, Guy Johnston, Hansjörg Schellenberger, Jiri Hudec, Julius Drake, Allan Clayton, Patricia Bardon, John O’Conor and Alasdair Tait. They have taken part in the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove and in 2008 were resident Quartet at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. The Quartet has broadcast for BBC Radio 3, RAI 3 (Italy), Radio 4 (Holland), SWR (Germany), Radio Luxembourg and ABC Classic FM (Australia).
Passionate about education, the Quartet have held residencies at Repton School, St. Christopher’s School in Bahrain and taken part in the Wigmore Hall’s Chamber Challenge program.
He [Mark Padmore] was joined in the latter cycle by the admirable Navarra String Quartet who realised the innovatively atmospheric quality of the string writing to perfection. They were equally accomplished in Ravel's String Quartet, achieving a buoyancy and translucence that often evade higher profile ensembles.
The Evening Standard QEH/International Chamber Music Series with Mark Padmore & Roger Vignoles May 2011
Ravel's Quartet in F was given a buzzingly alive performance by the Navarra String Quartet, precisely tuned, with melodies emerging and receding into the diaphanous textures as if by sleight of hand.
The Guardian QEH/International Chamber Music Series with Mark Padmore & Roger Vignoles May 2011
The tenor Mark Padmore has some distinguished people to call on for a concert billed as "Mark Padmore and Friends…. the Navarra Quartet delivered Ravel's String Quartet in F with transparent freshness.
The Independent QEH/International Chamber Music Series with Mark Padmore & Roger Vignoles May 2011
Ravel’s sole String Quartet received a remarkably focused performance from the young Navarra players, the sort of playing that really drew you into the music, with wonderfully open, guitar-like pizzicatos in the scherzo and all the elusive transparency of French light and shade you could ask for in the slow movement.
Classical Source QEH/International Chamber Music Series with Mark Padmore & Roger Vignoles May 2011
The young Navarra Quartet presented this moment with fine panache, after delivering a convincing account of this autobiographical work [Smetana From my Life]…they did it proud, bringing burning intensity to the in memoriam for the composer’s dead wife, and a generous warmth to its evocations of village life.
The Independent Wigmore Hall March 2011
Striking Vasks: the Navarra Quartet find graphic immediacy
All three works, recorded in the presence of the composer, are projected with almost graphic immediacy by the Navarra Quartet who deliver compelling performances captured here in extremely vivid sound. Overall, then, this disc comes hotly recommended.
Performance *****
Recording *****
BBC Music Magazine November 2010 (CC72365 Challenge Classics)
Piemontesi and the Navarras gave it (Schumann’s Piano Quintet) the requisite spaciousness from the start……they made a thrilling journey through an emotional landscape by turns sweet, spooky, throbbingly combustible, and liberatingly joyous. And if this was a flawless performance, so was the Navarra Quartet’s treatment of one of the Haydn’s early masterpieces, the G minor Quartet Opus 20. They have a warmly-rounded and very expressive sound, perfectly suited to Haydn: on this showing, they are already in the first rank of his music’s exponents.
The Independent BBC Chamber Prom with Francesco Piemontesis at Cadogan Hall July 2010
The opening Allegro was lively, the somber Minuet delicate, the Poco Adagio wonderfully sonorous (with a beautifully played cello interlude) and a superbly articulate finale (Haydn Op.20/3)….Piemontesi returned for Schumann’s Piano Quintet….this was an excellent performance….altogether stirring, Piemontesi’s understated manner wonderfully complemented by the expressive playing of the Navarra Quartet.
www.classicalsource.com BBC Chamber Prom with Francesco Piemontesis at Cadogan Hall July 2010
Challenge Classics: Peteris Vasks Quartets Nos.1-3 (CC72365) reviews:
The stunning performance compensates a lot. The Navarra has specialized in a finely polished expression. Flawless intonations bring a sonority that causes a sensation in itself.
Thiemo Wind Telegraaf 16 oktober 2010
'We can be very brief about the Navarra Quartet: Amazing!' PS Mania Klassiek October 2010
They play this repertoire with the utmost conviction, and judging by the photo in the book, to the satisfaction of the composer.
Siebe Riedstra Luister november 2010
Let's hope that this records can also be provided by the Navarra Quartet [of the 4th and 5th String Quartet of Vasks], because this young UK-based, but existing out of 3 Dutch players and 1 English ensemble, understands his music down to the microsecond, and plays at a level can be characterized as exceptionally.
Frits van der Waa Volkskrant 16 September 2010
‘…the players realize the music’s essential intensity….with their vivid sense of dramatic expression in an intensely detailed performance’.
BBC Music Magazine Haydn 7 Last Words/Altara Records September 2009
Mstislav Rostropovich
"You are the most wonderful group of musicians, you really touched my heart"
REVIEWS:
‘…the players realize the music’s essential intensity….with their vivid sense of dramatic expression in an intensely detailed performance’.
BBC Music Magazine Haydn 7 Last Words/Altara Records September 2009
“A rarity, on the other hand, was a performance in the basilica by the Navarra Quartet of Haydn’s string quartet in G op.33 No. 5 and Mozart’s noticeable reference (to it – Haydn’s piece), the quartet No.15 in d KV 421; performed impulsively and dynamically, but also with admirable filigree by the musicians…. the Navarra quartet unfolds the adorable setting in Haydns largo or Mozart’s andante with breathtaking tension into full bloom’.
Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung Rheingau Musik Festival July 2008
‘The Navarra Quartet brought some good humoured playing to Haydn’s Op.64 No.6….many magical moments in Thomas Ades Arcadiana….the Mendelssohn was outgoing and it’s Schnittke fearless.
The Strad Melbourne Competition December 2007
A Celebration of Imogen Holst ****
‘the afternoon recital by the hugely promising Navarra Quartet included two of her [Imogen Holst] works alongside Purcell’s Chacony and Schubert’s great C major Quintet’
The Guardian Aldeburgh October 2007
‘Moments of intuitive chamber work and cellist Nathaniel Boyd’s compelling melodic lines were signs of good things to come…Shostakovich’s marathon third quartet came to life in subtle shades of humour and gravity. The young anglo-dutch ensemble played with an uncanny wisdom and a good sense of timing.’
The Strad, January 2007 (Wigmore Hall, September 2006)
‘The outstanding quartet playing of the whole Fest was giving us by the Navarra Quartet. The group formed at the RNCM in September 2002 with three Dutch members and an English cellist. It was no surprise that they were multi-prize-winners at home and abroad, and had gained the RNCM’s professional performance diploma with distinction. Joined by pianist, Vyacheslav Sidorenko, their Sunday afternoon recital of Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue No. 15, Schnittke’s quartet No. 3, Shostakovich’s piano quintet and Shostakovich No. 3 was a truly remarkable experience. Totally at one with the music and each other, these talented young players are on their way to top acclaim in the chamber music world. By comparison the St Petersburg Quartet…though superb, did not play with such all-consuming believe.’
ESTA Magazine, January 2006 (Soviet-Festival Manchester, January 2006)
The Navarra Quartet opened the programme exactly a hundred years after Shostakovich’s birth with the composers eight quartet, a reading of much insight and dedication.
The Musical Opinion (Purcell Room, September 2006)
‘All three works, recorded in the presence of the composer, are projected with almost graphic immediacy by the Navarra Quartet who deliver compelling performances captured here in extremely vivid sound.’
BBC Music Magazine Vasks String Quartets Nos 1-3/ Challenge Classics Christmas 2010