THE QUARTET

THE QUARTET

  Winner of the 50th “Prague Spring International Music Competition” in May 1998,  the Quartetto Prometeo was also awarded the “Special Barenreiter Prize for Best Performance of Mozart’s Quartet K 590 Based on the Original Score”,  the “City of Prague” award as best quartet,  and the “Pro Harmonia Mundi” prize.   The Quartetto Prometeo was appointed resident quartet, from 1998 to 1999, at the Britten Pears Academy in Aldeburgh and was awarded the “Thomastik Infeld” prize at the Internationale Sommer Akademie Prag-Wien-Budapest in 1999 for “outstanding  performance of a chamber music work.”   It won second prize at the Concours International de Quatuors of that year in Bordeaux and, in 2000,  the Special Barenreiter Prize at the ARD Munich Competition.   Then,  in 2012 it was honored to receive the Leone d’Argento,  one of the highest distinctions in music in Italy,  and at present is quartet-in-residence at the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica Romana.

          The Quartetto Prometeo’s brilliant international career has included performances at the Concertgebouw,  the Musikverein,  Wigmore Hall,  the Aldeburgh Festival,  the Prague Spring Festival,  the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival,  the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome,  the Società del Quartetto of Milan,  the Accademia Chigiana in Siena,  Musica Insieme in Bologna,  Waterfront Hall in Belfast for the BBC,  Grand Théatre in Bordeaux,  Foundation Royaumont,  Auditorium Musée d’Orsay in Paris,  Boswil Festival,  Schloss-Elmau Kammermusikfest,  Wurzburg Mozartnacht,  Le Printemps Musical de Saint-Cosme,  Engadiner Festwochen,  Kammermusikfest in Saarbrucken,  Rencontres Musicales de Fontainbleau,  Colmar Festival,  Sanssouci Festival in Potsdam,  as well as tours in North and South America,  the Netherlands,  Russia,  Japan, and elseware.   The Quartetto Prometeo enjoys performing with their friends and colleagues  —  Mario Brunello, David Geringas,  Veronika Hagen,  Alexander Lonquich,  Enrico Pace,  Stefano Scodanibbio,  the Belcea Quartet,  and others.   

          One of the characteristics of the Prometeo is their constant experimentation with interactions between classical repertoire and musical expressions of our time.  Their close collaboration with Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino resulted in his dedicating two pieces to them,  the Esercizi di Tre Stili and the recent Quartetto No. 8,  commissioned by the Società del Quartetto of Milan together with the MaerzMusik Festival Berlin, the Ultima Festival Oslo, and the Aldeburgh Festival,  recorded for Kairos together with his other recent works for string quartet.    The Quartetto Prometeo collaborates regularly with composer Ivan Fedele and in 2011, premiered Moroloja Kai Erotika for string quartet and voice,  commissioned by the Accademia Filarmonica Romana and dedicated to them.

          After the successful recording of the complete Schumann String Quartets for Amadeus, their new releases include:   for Kairos a monografic CD dedicated to Salvatore Sciarrino,  for Brilliant  a CD, the Opera Omnia for quartet by Hugo Wolf,  for ECM a CD dedicated to Stefano Scodanibbio,  for LimenMusic a CD/DVD  with works by Beethoven and Schubert, as well as quartets by Szymanowski for Brilliant, and a monografic CD dedicated to Ivan Fedele.  In the Spring of 2015 their first recording for SONY Classics, Arcana, was released.

 

 

Vincitore della 50° edizione del Prague Spring International Music Competition nel 1998, il Quartetto Prometeo è stato insignito anche del Premio Speciale Bärenreiter come migliore esecuzione fedele al testo originale del Quartetto K 590 di Mozart, del Premio Città di Praga come migliore quartetto e del Premio Pro Harmonia Mundi.

Nel 1998 il Quartetto Prometeo è stato eletto complesso residente della Britten Pears Academy di Aldeburgh e nel 1999 ha ricevuto il premio Thomas Infeld dalla Internationale Sommer Akademie Prag-Wien-Budapest per le “straordinarie capacità interpretative per una composizione del repertorio cameristico per archi” ed è risultato secondo al Concours International de Quatuors di Bordeaux.
Nel 2000 è stato nuovamente insignito del Premio Speciale Bärenreiter al Concorso ARD di Monaco.

Riceve il Leone d’Argento 2012 alla Biennale Musica di Venezia.

Si è esibito nelle più importanti sale tra cui Concertgebouw di Amsterdam, Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, Prague Spring Festival, Mecklenburg Festival,  Accademia di Santa Cecilia di Roma, Società del Quartetto di Milano, Amici della Musica di Firenze, Teatro La Fenice.

Ha collaborato con musicisti quali Mario Brunello, David Geringas, Veronika Hagen, Alexander Lonquich, Enrico Pace, Stefano Scodanibbio, Quartetto Belcea, Enrico Bronzi, Mariangela Vacatello, Lilya Zilberstein.

Particolarmente intenso è il rapporto artistico con Salvatore Sciarrino, Ivan Fedele e Stefano Gervasoni.
Ha inciso per Ecm, Sony e Brilliant.

Dal 2013 è “quartetto in residence” all’Accademia Chigiana di Siena in collaborazione con la classe di composizione di Salvatore Sciarrino e dal 2019 tiene corsi di quartetto presso Accademia musicale Santa Cecilia di Portogruaro e  dal 2020 a Roma nell’ambito di Avos Project.

 

Born in Israel, violinist and violist Nurit Stark received her musical education in Tel Aviv, Berlin and Cologne with Ilan Gronich, Haim Taub and Alban Berg Quartet.
Since her first soloist appearance at 16 of Paganini’s first violin Concerto with the Israeli philharmonic Orchestra she went on performing worldwide with orchestras masterpieces of composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Berg, Britten and Bloch.
Nurit won the prestigious gramophone award and was crowned instrumental recording of the year 2023 for her debut solo recording which came out in Spring 2022 with BIS records and consists of solo works for violin/viola by Béla Bártok, György Ligeti, Sandor Veress and a world premiere performance of the “adventures of the dominant seventh chord” dedicated to her by Peter Eötvös.

Her recording of the “Kafka Fragmente” for soprano and violin by György Kurtág together with soprano Caroline Melzer received the German critic’s award in 2015.
As a chamber musician, she was formed by intensive collaborations particularly with pianist Cédric Pescia, soprano Caroline Melzer with whom she appeared in festivals as Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest, Schleswig Holstein, Rheingau, Wien Modern, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Mozart Festival Augsburg,, Milano Musica, West Cork music festival, Pacific Music Festival Sapporo, Davos Festival, Chekhov Festival Moscow, Ensemble enScène Lausanne.

She has given concerts in Europe, Israel, Japan and the USA in halls such as Carnegie Hall New York, Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Vienna, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Mozarteum Salzburg, Tonhalle Zurich.
Nurit’s conviction of contemporary ideas led her to perform world premieres and to collaborate with composers such as Sofia Gubaidulina, György Kurtág, Viktor Suslin, Peter Eötvös, Carola Bauckholt, Jennifer Walshe, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Isabel Mundry, Peter Ablinger, Georg Nussbaumer, Sky Maclay and Ernstalbrecht Stiebler.
Moreover, she participated in avant-garde stage projects combining music & theater (Burgtheater Vienna, Schaubühne & Volksbühne Berlin, Bobigny Paris) and created together with visual artists Isabel Robson & Susanne Vincenz „Roundhouse Reverb“, a video installation to the music of G.Kurtág.

She was supported by the following foundations; Ernst von Siemens, Forberg-Schneider and Otto&Regine Heim and is a prizewinner in international competitions George Enescu, Leopold Mozart and Ibolyka Gyarfas.
Nurit has recorded works by Feruccio Busoni, George Enescu, Clara & Robert Schumann for violin/viola and piano with Cédric Pescia, chamber works by Olivier Messiaen, Viktor Suslin and Sofia Gubaidulina.
In 2019 she was appointed professor for violin in the Stuttgart State university for music and performing arts. In 2023 she is also appointed professor for violin in the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève.
She plays a Petrus Guarnerius di Mantova Violin, 1710

Aldo Campagnari is second violin and founder member of the Prometeo. He is active in various chamber ensembles and teaches quartet at the Conservatory of Lugano. He loves his particular role, and from his position “inside” the quartet, checks constantly in rehearsal for harmonic clarity. He is by far the quartet’s best chef – his risotti are a renowned specialty…

Danusha Waskiewicz is a talented violist. She is a member of the famous Italian quartet Quartetto Prometeo.

Born in Würzburg (Germany) in 1973, she began to study the violin at the age of 6 and the viola at the age of 10. She learnt the art of the viola from great musicians: from 1994 to 1999 she studied with the brilliant violist Tabea Zimmermann.

Internationally, Danusha Waskiewicz affirmed herself in the 2000 ARD competition in Munich, receiving also the Brüder Busch Gesellschaft and Wilhelm Weichsler special prizes. She began her orchestral experience with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and, at only 25 years of age, she became a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. After two years, she won the qualifying competition for the leadership of the viola section.

She started her solo career as the first viola of the Orchestra Mozart of Bologna, which she joined following Claudio Abbado’s invitation. With them, she recorded the Sinfonia Concertante by Mozart in 2007 for Deutsche Grammophon and later Bach’s Brandenburg concertos for the Euro Arts label.

Thanks to her talent and her illustrious curriculum, Danusha Waskiewicz has become a very sought-after violist: for several years she was part of the Luzern Festival Orchestra and she has performed with prestigious orchestras, such as the Bayerisch Rundfunk Orchestra.

Danusha lives in Italy, near Milan, where she teaches viola; however, her efforts in the education of future musicians bring her all around the world, as she is often invited to hold masterclasses and judge at international competitions.

Danusha Waskiewicz has earned recognition as an excellent chamber musician. She regularly performs with prominent artists such as Isabelle Faust, with whom she recorded works from Schubert and Schönberg for the Harmonia Mundi record label.

Her long and successful collaboration with pianist Andrea Rebaudengo produced their lucky “Songs for Viola and Piano” (via Decca), that includes great songs from exceptional composers. With her viola, Danusha is able to sing and tell stories.

Since 2018, Danusha Waskiewicz is part of famous Italian quartet Quartetto Prometeo, well-known for their versatility. Their top-notch performances space from classic to contemporary music and have garnered praise for their eclecticity.

Danusha Waskiewicz offers her enthusiasm and passion for music in all of its shapes and forms as a soloist, too. She unites singing and viola playing, dancing and electric viola with the “Viola Tango Rock Concert” by Benjamin Yusupov, which she performs with international orchestras.

Cellist Francesco Dillon, founder member of the group, divides his time between quartet playing and a variety of other musical projects… Always on the lookout for neglected and rare (but beautiful!) repertoire, he is responsible for some of the more adventurous aspects of the quartet’s programming. A passionate advocate of contemporary music, he tries to convince his colleagues to mix old and new, exploring bizarre effects on their instruments…

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