Event Details
Leos Cepicky violin
Jan Schulmeister violin
Jiri Zigmund viola
Ales Kasprik cello
Programme:
Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor D 703
Mozart String Quartet K421
Smetana String Quartet no 2
Schubert String Quintet in C major for 2 violins, viola and 2 cellos D 956
String and piano music featured prominently in the Belfast Music Society’s International Festival of Chamber Music this past weekend, with standout performances from internationally acclaimed artists. The Wihan String Quartet are a globe-trotting Czech ensemble known for their championship of music by composers from their native land. In a long and demanding programme on Saturday evening, they demonstrated their robust and meticulous approach to music connected by a sense of moodiness and power.
Schubert’s Quartettsatz in C minor set a dramatic tone for the evening, carried on by Mozart’s turbulent String Quartet in D minor and another Quartet in D minor by Smetana. In the second half they were joined by Rafael Walfisch for Schubert’s magnificent String Quintet in C, a powerhouse of chamber music entirely in keeping with this Festival’s Schubertian theme. The Wihan have a characteristically lush sound and the confidence of their more than twenty three years playing together as an ensemble.