Prazak Quartet
The Prazak Quartet is not only one of the leading string quartets from Czechoslovakia, but among the longest-lived from any country. Although most of the original membership is gone, all the current personnel has been in place since 1986, and two of the three replacements have served since the early or mid-'70s. Not surprisingly, the ensemble has shown a preference for Czech repertory, focusing particularly on Dvorák, Smetana, Janácek, and Martinu. But the group has also demonstrated an affinity for the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, and other composers in the Germanic sphere. The repertory extends to the twentieth century as well, encompassing Zemlinski, Schoenberg, Berg, Schulhoff, and many others. The ensemble has made numerous recordings for a variety of labels, pirmarily on Praga, but including Harmonia Mundi, Supraphon, Orfeo, and Nuovo Era.
The Prazak Quartet was founded in 1972 by cellist Josef Prazák and violist Josef Kluson, the only current original member. All of the original members were Prague Conservatory students. The makeup of the group changed often in its early years: Vaclav Remes (first violinist) joined the ensemble in 1973; Vlastimil Holek (second violinist) became the next replacement, in 1976; and then in 1986 cellist Michal Kanka replaced Prazák.
The quartet's first competition victory came in 1974 when it was awarded first prize at the Prague Conservatory's prestigious Chamber Music Competition. The players captured another first prize at the 1978 Evian String Quartet Competition. By that time they had already established a reputation at home and in parts of Europe as one of the foremost Czech string quartets on the international scene.
The quartet's steady ascent throughout the 1980s and '90s owed much to its busy concert schedule in Europe and the United States and to the critical acclaim it regularly achieved for recordings. With the highly praised 1996 CD of Schubert quartets (Rosamunde and Death and the Maiden), the Prazak Quartet began recording exclusively for Praga. Since then the group has made over 20 recordings for that label, consistently drawing positive critical notice. Among later recordings is the 2006 CD of Brahms' String Quartet No. 3 and Piano Quintet, Op. 34. Important concerts include a March 2007 appearance at Carnegie Hall, where the group performed a typically mixed program: string quartets by Haydn (Op. 76/5) and Dvorák (No. 14, Op. 105), and Five Pieces for String Quartet by Schulhoff.
Decades of steady personnel ended in 2010, when Remes was forced to retire due to problems with his left hand. He was succeeded by Pavel Hula, formerly first violinist with the Kocian Quartet; Hula died on December 7, 2021 at the age of 69.
© TiVo
Similar artists
-
Bedřich Smetana: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2, From my Homeland
Prazak Quartet, Václav Remeš, Sachiko Kayahara
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Mar 1999
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quintets Nos. 4 & 5
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Aug 2005
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden", String Trio, D. 581 & Wind Nonet, D. 79 "Eine kleine Trauermusik"
Prazak Quartet, Kocian Quartet, Czech Nonet
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Jan 1995
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Piano Quartet, Cello Sonata, Capriccio (String Sextet)
Prazak Quartet, Jaromir Klepac, Michal Kaňka
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Apr 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Piano Quintet - Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14
Prazak Quartet, François Dumont
Quartets - Released by Praga Digitals on 27 May 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Claude Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Cello Sonata, Violin Sonata, Piano Trio
Prazak Quartet, Kinsky Trio Prague
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Jan 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Alexander von Zemlinsky: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 4
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Nov 1991
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 15, String Trios D. 471 & D. 581
Prazak Quartet, Beethoven String Trio
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Jan 2008
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 11, K. 413, No. 12, K. 414 & No. 13, K. 415 "A Quattro"
Slávka Vernerová Pěchočová, Prazak Quartet, Pavel Nejtek
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Sep 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mikhail Glinka: Gran Sestetto Originale, Divertimento Brillante - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1
Prazak Quartet, Lukas Klansky, Pavel Nejtek
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 7 Sep 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 & Clarinet Quintet
Prazak Quartet, Pascal Moraguès
Quartets - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Feb 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 4 & Verklärte Nacht
Prazak Quartet, Vladimir Bukac, Petr Prause
Quartets - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Mar 2007
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Haydn: String Quartets Op. 71 Nos. 1, 2 & 3 "Apponyi Quartets"
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Sep 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bedřich Smetana: String Quartets, Piano Trio
Prazak Quartet, Nathalia Milstein
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Jan 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Haydn: The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Feb 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Haydn: Prussian Quartets, Op. 50 No. 3, No. 5 & No. 6
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 19 Oct 2009
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 2 & String Quintet No. 2
Prazak Quartet, Vladimir Bukac
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Aug 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The Six Haydn Quartets, Vol. I: String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K.387 - String Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K.421
Classical - Released by EG Classics on 1 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento, K. 251, Oboe Quartet, K. 370, Adagio, K. 580a, Horn Quintet, K. 407
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Jan 1995
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sergei Prokofiev: String Quartet No. 2, Ballade, Adagio (from Cinderella), Cello Sonata
Prazak Quartet, Michal Kaňka, Jaromir Klepac
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on 1 Sep 2002
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Janáček: String Quartets
Chamber Music - Released by Supraphon a.s. on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo