Hugo Wolf Quartett

To Premiere New String Quartet On Sunday

Newtown Friends of Music will sponsor the first performance by The Hugo Wolf Quartett in Newtown this weekend.

On Sunday, March 1, at 3 pm, the quartet from Vienna will perform two full works written by Joseph Haydn in the second half of the 18th Century: String Quartet Opus 20 No. 3 in G minor and String Quartet Opus 77, No. 2 in F Major.

The program will also include the premiere performance of a string quartet that was just completed at the end of 2008 by the composer Wolfgang Muthspiel, who wrote the piece expressly at the request of and commissioned by the musicians of Hugo Wolf Quartett.

The quartet was founded at Vienna Conservatory in 1993. The name was granted to the quartet by the International Hugo Wolf Society of Vienna. The late Romantic composer Hugo Wolf was situated between the great Viennese music tradition and its departure into the modern period, thus the quartet’s wide range of musical venues.

Shortly after its founding, the four young musicians began their professional careers by winning the Fifth International String Quartet Competition in Cremona, took first prize at the 45th International GB Viotti Chamber Music Competition, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Special Prize, and the European Cultural Award for Chamber Music, then made their debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus to wide acclaim by public and press alike, where they now have an annual sold-out series.

The members of the quartet are violinists Sebastian Guertler and Regis Bringolf, violist Gertrud Weinmeister, and cellist Florian Berner.

The press has been unanimous in its approval of the performance style, the clarity, the charm and the serious and thoughtful interpretation of the pieces that the quartet performs.  “One hears in these players, embryonically and in miniature, the qualities that make the Vienna Philharmonic special,” wrote one critic in The New York Times. “Urgent and impassioned, but with an absolute commitment to the ideal values of every note,” said The Los Angeles Times.

Tickets for the Newtown performance are $18 for adults and $16 for seniors. Students grades K through 12 are admitted free of charge when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. The box office will open one hour before the start of the concert.

Parking is free behind Edmond Town Hall and the facility is handicap accessible with all seating providing excellent viewing and acoustics. An informal reception with the performers will follow the concert.

For tickets or additional information contact Newtown Friends of Music at 426-6470 or NewtownFriendsOfMusic.org.