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
-
Johannes Brahms: String Sextets Nos. 1 & 2
Prazak Quartet, Petr Holman, Vladimír Fortín
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Sep 1, 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 4, 5 & 1
Quartets - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 2003
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bohuslav Martinů: String Quartets Nos. 1, 3 & 6
Prazak Quartet, Zemlinsky Quartet
Quartets - Released by Praga Digitals on Aug 1, 2009
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Krzysztof Penderecki: Sextet, String Trio, Cadenza, Per Slava, Divertimento
Prazak Quartet, Sachiko Kayahara, Michel Lethiec, Premysl Vojta
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 2005
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold Schönberg: String Quartet in D Major, String Trio, Op. 45 & Phantasy for Violin, Op. 47 - Gustav Mahler: Piano Quartet
Prazak Quartet, Vlastimil Holek, Sachiko Kayahara
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Oct 1, 2001
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Alexander Borodin: Piano Trio, String Sextet, Two String Trios, Serenata alla spagnola
Kinsky Trio Prague, Prazak Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Sep 1, 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartets No. 15, K. 421, No. 17, K. 458 "The Hunt" & No. 19, K. 465 "Dissonance"
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Oct 1, 2007
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Antonín Dvorák: String Quartet No. 11 & Cypresses Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Feb 1, 2004
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 3, 2 & 6
Quartets - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 2001
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 3 & Piano Quintet
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Oct 1, 2005
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 & Große Fuge, Op. 133
Quartets - Released by Praga Digitals on Apr 1, 2004
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann: String Quartet No. 1, Piano Quintet
Prazak Quartet, Evgeni Koroliov
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Mar 1, 2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold Schönberg: Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21, Suite Op. 29
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Apr 1, 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leoš Janáček: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2, Concertino
Prazak Quartet, Slávka Vernerová Pěchočová, Milan Polak,, Lukáš Kořínek, Jan Voboril
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on May 1, 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold Schönberg: String Quartet No. 3, Scherzo, Presto, Chamber Symphony
Prazak Quartet, Jaromir Klepac
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Dec 1, 2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arnold Schönberg: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Prazak Quartet, Christine Whittlesey
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Dec 1, 1997
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Joseph Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 20 No. 6, Op. 64 No. 5 "The Lark", Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor"
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 2001
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven: The Three String Quartets, Op. 59
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Feb 8, 2000
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Alban Berg: String Quartet, Lyric Suite - Anton Webern: String Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Jan 1, 2001
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 Mar 1, 2007
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: String Quartet Op. 12, String Quintet Op. 18, Minuetto
Prazak Quartet, Zemlinsky Quartet, Josef Kluson
Chamber Music - Released by Praga Digitals on Mar 1, 2009
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo