Kállai Quartet A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

The string quartet is one of the most sensitive of the chamber music genres, and perhaps the only setup to which musicians frequently ‘contract’ themselves for a lifetime. Looked at in string-quartet terms, the Kállai Quartet are mere babes, having formed only in 2009 (at that time under the name Nyári Quartet). Even so they have already achieved an enormous amount. Among their many competitive results the following are outstanding: first prize at the Weiner Leó National Chamber Music Competition, special prize at the 21st International Johannes Brahms Competition Pörtschach, Austria, besides which they have represented the Liszt Academy at important events such as the Kyoto International Festival and the opening ceremony series of the reconstructed music palace on Liszt Ferenc Square. The repertoire of the quartet spans Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven through Schubert, Brahms and Debussy to Dohnányi, Weiner, Bartók and Kodály. For their spring 2016 concert they have chosen to open with what is probably Mozart’s most popular string quartet, dedicated to Haydn, the ‘Dissonance’ String Quartet in C major, which takes its name from the unusual and slow introduction. This is followed by the first movement of an uncompleted string quartet by Schubert, and then the Mendelssohn String Quartet in A minor, which although the composer penned at the tender age of 18 (not unusual for this genius) is still a hugely passionate work.