Schubert: String Quintet, Quartettsatz Brodsky Quartet & Laura van der Heijden

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Quintet, Op. post. 163, D. 956:
• 1 Schubert: Quintet, Op. post. 163, D. 956: I. Allegro ma non troppo 21:11
• 2 Schubert: Quintet, Op. post. 163, D. 956: II. Adagio 14:49
• 3 Schubert: Quintet, Op. post. 163, D. 956: III. Scherzo 10:53
• 4 Schubert: Quintet, Op. post. 163, D. 956: IV. Allegretto 10:27
• Quartet, D. 703 'Quartettsatz':
• 5 Schubert: Quartet, D. 703 'Quartettsatz' 09:30
• Total Runtime 01:06:50

Info for Schubert: String Quintet, Quartettsatz

Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, the Brodsky Quartet has performed more than 3000 concerts on the major concert stages of the world and has released more than seventy recordings. A natural curiosity and insatiable desire to explore have propelled the group in many artistic directions and continue to ensure it not only a place at the very forefront of the international chamber music scene but also a rich and varied musical existence. As they comment in their booklet note:

‘It seems fitting to mark the milestone by recording this epic and most celebrated of chamber works, Schubert’s String Quintet in C major, a piece which we have lived with since childhood, and which we have played with a long line of illustrious cellists. One of our earliest performances took place with Terence Weil, our mentor at college, at his retirement concert, just as we were starting out on our professional journey. Now the wonderful young Laura van der Heijden, who comes to this recording with a maturity which belies her years, represents with respect to us a similar age gap, proving that age is insignificant where there is a meeting of musical minds. Now we look forward to whatever our sixth decade might bring.’

Brodsky Quartet
Laura van der Heijden, cello

Brodsky Quartet
Since forming in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet have performed over 3,000 concerts on the major stages of the world and have released more than 60 recordings. A natural curiosity and an insatiable desire to explore has propelled the group in a number of artistic directions and continues to ensure them not only a prominent presence on the international chamber music scene, but also a rich and varied musical existence. Their energy and craftsmanship have attracted numerous awards and accolades worldwide, while their ongoing educational work provides a vehicle to pass on experience and stay in touch with the next generation. ​

Throughout their career of almost 50 years, the Brodsky Quartet have enjoyed a busy international performing schedule, and have extensively toured the major festivals and venues throughout Australasia, North and South America, Asia, South Africa and Europe, as well as in the UK, where the quartet is based. The quartet are also regularly recorded for television and radio with their performances broadcast worldwide. ​

Over the years, the Brodsky Quartet have undertaken numerous performances of the complete cycles of quartets by Schubert, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Schoenberg, Zemlinsky, Webern and Bartok. It is, however, the complete Shostakovich cycle that has now become synonymous with their name: their 2012 London performance of the cycle resulted in their taking the prestigious title ‘Artistic Associate’ at London’s Kings Place and, in October 2016, releasing their second recording of the cycle, this time live from the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam. ​

The Brodsky Quartet have always had a busy recording career and currently enjoy an exclusive and fruitful relationship with Chandos Records. Releases on the label include ‘Petits Fours’, a celebratory album of ‘Encore’ pieces arranged exclusively by the quartet for their 40th anniversary; a Debussy compilation; ‘In the South’, featuring works by Verdi, Paganini, Wolf and Puccini; ‘New World Quartets’, comprising works by Dvorak, Copland, Gershwin and Brubeck; the quartets of Zemlinsky, including the world premiere recording of his unpublished early quartet; two Brahms discs, featuring the iconic Piano and Clarinet Quintets; the Shostakovich Complete Quartets. For Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year they have released a highly acclaimed box set of the late quartets.

As well as partnering many top classical artists for their performances and recordings, the quartet have made musical history with ground-breaking collaborations with some of the world’s leading artists across many genres and have commissioned and championed many of the world’s most respected composers.

Awards for recordings include the Diapason D'Or and the CHOC du Monde de la Musique and the Brodsky Quartet have received a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for their outstanding contribution to innovation in programming.

The quartet have taught at many international chamber music courses and have held residencies in several music institutes including, at the start of their career, the first such post at the University of Cambridge and latterly at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where they are visiting International Fellows in Chamber Music. They were awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Kent and an Honorary Fellowship at the University of Teesside, where they were founded.

The quartet took their name from the great Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky, the dedicatee of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto and a passionate chamber musician.

Krysia Osostowicz plays a violin made by Francesco Gofriller, 1720; Ian Belton’s violin is by Giovanni Paolo Maggini, c.1615. Paul Cassidy plays on La Delfina viola, c.1720, courtesy of Sra. Delfina Entrecanales and Jacqueline Thomas’s cello is by Thomas Perry of Dublin, 1785.

Laura van der Heijden
has already made a name for herself as a very special emerging talent, captivating audiences and critics alike with the sensitivity of her sound and interpretations. This soulful and evocative artist can already look back on a number of exceptional achievements, among them being the winner – at the age of just 15 - of the BBC Young Musician competition.

Her 2018 debut album “1948”, featuring Russian music for cello and piano with pianist Petr Limonov, won the 2018 Edison Klassiek Award (broadcast live on Dutch television), and the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Newcomer Award. The CD has been hailed as a “dazzling, imaginative and impressive” debut recording.

In 2019, Laura graduated from Cambridge University, and is currently in the middle of a busy 2019/20 season, which sees her perform with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Aldeburgh, the Tchaikovsky Symphony in Moscow, the Prague Symphony in the UK, the London Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras in the UK, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the US.

Other highlights include performing the Saint-Saëns Concerto in the opening concert of the inaugural BBC Proms Australia with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; recitals at Wigmore Hall, Tonhalle Zürich, and Musashino Cultural Foundation in Japan; as well as her participation in the music festivals of West Cork, OCM Prussia Cove, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Krzyzowa Music.

Collaborative music-making is immensely important to Laura, and she regularly participates in international chamber music courses and festivals. She is a member of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, frequently performs with the Brodsky Quartet, and her chamber music partners have included Nicholas Daniel, Krzysztof Chorzelski, Radovan Vlatkovic, Midori, Nils Moenkemeyer, Mark Simpson, Amy Harman, Matthew McDonald, and Fazil Say. In her duo recitals, Laura collaborates with pianists Tom Poster, Jâms Coleman, Petr Limonov, Katya Apekisheva, Finghin Collins, and Huw Watkins.

Laura was born in England to Dutch-Swiss parents and gave her first public performance at the age of 9. Since 2008 she has been a student of the renowned British-Russian cellist Leonid Gorokhov, and participates regularly in masterclasses with David Geringas, Ralph Kirshbaum and Miklós Perényi. In 2016 Laura was chosen by the Orpheum Stiftung in Switzerland, a foundation encouraging and assisting exceptionally talented young instrumental soloists. She is an Ambassador for both the Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts and Brighton Youth Orchestra.

Laura plays a late 17th-century cello by Francesco Ruggieri of Cremona, on loan from a Charitable Trust.

Booklet for Schubert: String Quintet, Quartettsatz