Within just a few years the Hugo Wolf Quartet turned from
what used to be a hot insider\'s tip into one of the most popular international
ensembles of the young generation. "New Stars On The Quartet Sky"
a review after their debut-concert at the Vienna Musikverein was titled.
That concert was part of "Rising Stars", an international concert-series
organized by ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation) which took the
ensemble to a number of principal concert halls around the globe: Concertgebouw
Amsterdam, Philharmonie Cologne, Megaron Athens, Cité de la Musique
Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, Symphony Hall Birmingham, and the
Carnegie Hall New York. Other venues of Hugo Wolf Quartet performances
include the Edinburgh Festival, Schubertiade Feldkirch, Carinthischer
Sommer, Mozarteum Salzburg, Munich\'s Herkules Saal, Suntory Hall Tokyo.
Being
still students at the Vienna University of Music the four musicians set
the basis for their international breakthrough by spending the two years
following their foundation back in 1993 by joint studying with members
of the Alban Berg-, Amadeus-, Juilliard- and Walter Levin (LaSalle-Quartet).
In 1995 they won the "5th International Competition for String Quartets"
in Cremona and gave their debut at Vienna Konzerthaus which met with enthusiastic
response from the public and the press alike. Other awards followed, including
the prize for the best string quartet at the "45th International
G.B.Viotti Competition for Chamber Music", the "Special Award
of the Vienna Philharmonic", the "Promotional Prize by the City
of Salzburg", and finally the "European Chamber Music Prize"
honouring "artistic talent and the salient ensemble performance".
Today the Hugo Wolf Quartet consists of the founding members Jehi Bahk,
Régis Bringolf (violins), Florian Berner (cello), and Wladimir
Kossjanenko who joined the ensemble as viola player in 1998. The precious
instruments - Jehi Bahk plays the J.B.Guadagnini violin "ex A.Busch"
(1783), Régis Bringolf a violin by G.Cappa (1697), Wladimir Kossjanenko
a viola by P.Mantegazza (1775), and Florian Berner a cello by N.Gagliano
(1819) were procured for the quartet by the Fazenda Ipiranga, Guarnesia/Minas
Gerais (Brazil).
In
the year 2001 the Hugo Wolf Quartet will tour in Switzerland, in the UK
(e.g. London Wigmore Hall), and the first time in South America. Other
performances will be among others in Barcelona, Bolzano, Schwetzingen
Festival, New York, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Vienna Musikverein.
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