Sandro Ivo Bartoli, Bennewitz Quartet, Szymon Marciniak, Wolfgang Fischer, Johannes Kronfeld
Biography Sandro Ivo Bartoli, Bennewitz Quartet, Szymon Marciniak, Wolfgang Fischer, Johannes Kronfeld
Sandro Ivo Bartoli
Heralded by the German press as «one of the most important musicians to have come out of Italy in the last three decades», Sandro Ivo Bartoli is a virtuoso pianist whose sumptuous playing has captivated audiences all over the world. A graduate of the Florence State Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music in London, he collaborated privately with Russian piano legend Shura Cherkassky, who was instrumental in the beginning of his international career. In the early 1990s, with Cherkassky’s encouragement, Mr Bartoli began to rediscover the Italian piano literature of the early twentieth century, soon establishing a trend and becoming its leading interpreter world-wide. In addition to the concertos of Casella, Malipiero, Pizzetti and Petrassi, in 1995 he gave the first modern performance in the United States of Respighi’s Toccata for piano and orchestra in an historic concert that was broadcast by PBS in the series ‘Great Performances’. In Europe, he toured extensively with orchestras such as The Philharmonia, the Hallé, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the stockholm String Ensembles and the Max-Bruch Philharmonie, working with conductors such as Peter Stangel, Nicolae Moldoveanu, Michele Carulli, Simon Wright, Vladimir Lande and Gianluigi Zampieri among others.
Mr Bartoli’s playing has been praised for the kaleidoscopic range of its tone colour and its breath-taking virtuosity, attributes that he brings also to the better known repertoire of the classical and romantic eras such as the concertos of Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Franck, Rachmaninov, Shostakovitch and Tchajkovskij. Notable solo appearances include concerts at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, at the Gasteig in Munich (where he performed alongside such giants as Martha Argerich and Rodion Shchedrin), and at the Festival d’Avignon, Brighton Festival, Grieg Festival in Bergen, and the GAMO Festival of contemporary music in Florence.
Concerto engagements have included Rachmaninov’s Second Concerto in Dresden, Liszt’s Malédiction concerto in Munich, Chopin’s Second Concerto in Grosseto, Mozart’s ‘Jeunehomme’ Concerto in Milan, as well as appearances on Radio Nacional Clàsica Argentina, France Musiques, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Radio Nacional Española, the Icelandic Radio, and Radio Muzical Romania. His discography comprises the complete concertos of Gian Francesco Malipiero with the Radio Orchestra of Saarbrücken (CPO, winner of the Diapason d’Or/Découverte in 2008), works for piano and orchestra of Ottorino Respighi with the State Orchestra of Saxony (Brilliant Classics, 2011), the First Piano Concerto of Erik Lotichius with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg (Navona, 2013), and solo albums devoted to the music of Alfredo Casella, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Percy Grainger, Frédéryk Chopin, Ferruccio Busoni, and ‘The Frescobaldi Legacy’ (Brilliant Classics, 5 de Diapason, 2013). In 2014, Brilliant Classics released Mr Bartoli’s complete recording of the Bach-Busoni transcriptions to wide critical acclaim, while his recording of Franz Liszt’s Franciscan Works (Solaire, 2015) has been heralded as a reference recording by the international press. His album Johann Sebastian Bach: Preludes, Fantasias and Minuets (Solaire, 2017) has won the Supersonic Award on Pizzicato.
Mr Bartoli is the protagonist of two documentary films, ‘Mood Indigo’ (Nu Films, Amsterdam, 2013) and ‘Pianiste-Interpréte’ (Salto Films, Paris, 2014). For his outstanding work in the Arts, the City of Turin has awarded him the Gina Rosso Prize. He lives in his native Tuscany.
The Bennewitz Quartet
is one of the top international chamber ensembles, a status confirmed not only by their victories in two prestigious competitions – Osaka in 2005 and Prémio Paolo Borciani, Italy in 2008, but also by the acclaim of the critics. As early as 2006, the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: "... the music was remarkable not just for its clarity of structure, but for the beautiful tonal palette and purity of intonation in its execution. Only very rarely does one experience such skillfully crafted and powerful harmonies... Great art." The ensemble has received various awards on the Czech music scene as well. In 2004 the quartet was awarded The Prize of the Czech Chamber Music Society and in 2019 the four musicians won the Classic Prague Award for the Best Chamber Music Performance of the year.
The quartet currently performs at major venues both in the Czech Republic and abroad (Wigmore Hall London, Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Berlin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris, The Frick Collection New York, Seoul Art Center, Rudolfinum and others), and is regularly invited to festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele, Luzerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus, and the Prague Spring. The group has had the privilege of working with the outstanding artists: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Alexander Melnikov, Vadim Gluzman, Isabel Charisius, Pietro de Maria, Reto Bieri, Danjulo Ishizaka and others.
The Bennewitz Quartet especially enjoys playing and performing on the Czech domestic music scene. Particular highlights have included their cooperation with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Jiří Bělohlávek for a performance of Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra. The group has made a recording of both quartets by Leoš Janáček for Czech Television in the unique space of Villa Tugendhat in Brno. The Czech Radio regularly records major concerts of the quartet.
The fruits of their long-term cooperation with the Coviello Classics label include a recording of Leoš Janáček’s two string quartets and Béla Bartók’s fourth. The critics’ response was very positive. The magazine Fono Forum was impressed by the "fiery temperament". The second recording in the series, released in spring 2010, contains both of Bedřich Smetana’s quartets. The website Klassik.com called it "simply phenomenal". Their next project was the recording of Antonín Dvořák’s complete Cypresses cycle, on the Hänssler Classic label, followed by the recording of quartets op.51 and op.106 on the SWR music label. At present the quartet is working on the edition of a new CD with string quartets by Joseph Haydn.
The members of the quartet put a lot of stress on the inspiring and sometimes challenging choice of their concert repertoire. In 2012 and 2015, the ensemble performed in a sole evening the complete of Bartók’s six string quartets in Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and in Swedish Upsala. In 2014, the four presented a premiere of The Songs of Immigrants by Slavomír Hořínka in Konzerthaus Berlin. In 2019 the quartet added a new CD in its discography featuring the music of the persecuted Jewish composers H. Krása, V. Ullmann, E. Schulhoff and P. Haas on the Supraphon label.
In the 2021/22 season the Bennewitz Quartet will return to Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Rudolfinum Prague and many other stages. It will reappear at the Schwetzinger Festspiele, Music and Beyond Ottawa and will again tour in the USA. The quartet will take part in the Dvořák’s integral string quartet performance within the Dvořák’s Prague Festival 2022.
Since 1998 the quartet bears the name of the violinist and director of a music conservatory in Prague, Antonín Bennewitz (1833-1926) who contributed greatly to the establishment of the Czech violin school. The most significant musicians who count among his disciples are Otakar Ševčík and František Ondříček and above all Karel Hoffman, Josef Suk and Oskar Nedbal who, under Bennewitz’s influence, formed the famous Bohemian Quartet.
Szymon Marciniak
Marciniak’s desire is to share musical experiences with the audience at highest level through giving every piece of music an authenticity and freshness. Through his original approach to his instrument and lively interpretations of classical bass-repertoire as well as transcriptions, he constantly receives acclaim and enthusiastic reactions from listeners and critics alike. A winner of 1st prize at the Sperger International Bass-Competition in Germany (2004) and recently 2nd prize at 2nd International Bradetich Solo Bass Competition in Texas (2017) is recognized as one of leading young double-bass soloists.
Szymon’s concert activities took him all around Europe as well as Asia, Arabic Emirates, Canada and United States. He performs frequently as soloist with orchestras as well recitals with piano. In 2012 Szymon’s debut CD recording with Complete Sonatas and Miniatures of Adolf Mišek has been released and received critical acclaim including reviews at The Strad and Fanfare.
Besides performing traditional repertoire Szymon has a special interest in new and unknown pieces and has frequently collaborated with contemporary composers. American composer and bassist Frank Proto as well as Dutch composer Chiel Meijering have dedicated their works to Szymon. In early 2016 Szymon has released DVD+CD „New Music for Double- Bass” (with Evan Mitchell on piano). Both discs include 4 major premiere works for bass and piano.
Besides his solo efforts Szymon has been lucky to enjoy busy career as chamber and orchestral player. 2007-2013 Szymon has been principal bassist for the Residentie Orkest Den Haag (The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra). For the time of 2017/18 season he filled the principal bass position for Dortmunder Philharmoniker. Szymon’s great musical curiosity has enabled him to work with variety of orchestras, ensembles and chamber groups, covering wide range of musical styles ranging from traditional symphonic/orchestral and opera repertoire to contemporary, various cross-over genres, free improvisation and even elements of theatrical performance. Here are some of them: The Philharmonia, BBC Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic Manchester, Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Münchener Kammerorchester, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Norrbotten NEO, Ensemble Insomnio, New European Ensemble, Spira Mirabillis, Solistenensemble Kaleidosop Berlin, Ensemble Ruhr, Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
In 2019- joining forces with fellow bassists Gerold Genssler and Jan-Ole Fabian- Szymon has founded SOG Trio- project devoted to free improvised music.
Szymon has been in demand as a teacher. He has given number of Masterclasses around Europe, as well as Asia and US. He has taught at Conservatoire of Groningen (NL) as well as Musikhochschule in Rostock and Berlin. In 2020 Szymon has been appointed as professor at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken, Germany.
