design : www.aterlierchose.com /// CONTACT diff@quatuordebussy.com Tel. +33 (0)4 72 48 04 65 Mobile : +33 (0)6 28 34 72 19 www.debussystringquartet.com Mailing address : BP 4357, 69242 Lyon cedex 04 FRANCE THE DEBUSSY STRING QUARTET CONCERTS & PERFORMANCES 2013-2014-2015 Your evening performance is in good hands THE DEBUSSY QUARTET CHRISTOPHE COLLETTE, VIOLIN MARC VIEILLEFON, VIOLIN VINCENT DEPRECQ, VIOLA FABRICE BIHAN, CELLO Winners of the Evian International String Quartet Competition, the Debussy Quartet performs about 80 concerts a year in Europe, Asia, and North America. They are regular guests at distinguished concert halls (Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Grand Théâtre in Geneva, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Théâtre du Châtelet, Musée du Louvre in Paris) and are also heard at many of Europe s finest festivals. Through its passionate commitment to speak in a unique voice, eschewing the creation of an international quartet sound, the Debussy Quartet has established its reputation as one of the finest quartets touring and recording today. Formed in 1990 by a group of young musicians studying at the Conservatoire de Lyon, France, the quartet has gained international renown for its exciting performances and award-winning recordings. In major concert halls from New York to Tokyo they perform a wide range of works, and are perhaps most well known for their devotion to the French repertoire. The quartet s performances of the Ravel, Debussy and Fauré quartets are legendary, and these four musicians continue to create new audiences for works of their countrymen such as Lalo, Lekeu, Milhaud and the late romantic composer Ermend Bonnal. In addition to mixed chamber music with renowned colleagues, the quartet has embarked on an adventurous collaboration with the famed modern dance ensemble, Compagnie Käfig (choreographer Mourad Merzouki), for a new project in which they are incorporated as choreographed elements while performing on their respective instruments in concert with the dancers. The Debussy Quartet s extensive discography includes the acclaimed Decca label release of the landmark Mozart Requiem recording, in the 1802 transcription by Peter Lichtenthal (about which a documentary film has also been made). The Arion label produced several volumes in the French Music collection (Bonnal, Ravel, Fauré, Witkowski, Lekeu) and the complete Shostakovich Quartets, among other works. The quartet s mixed chamber music repertoire includes its highly regarded CD of the Brahms and Weber clarinet quintets with clarinetist Jean Francois Verdier and a highly acclaimed collaboration with the pianist François Chaplin in several Mozart piano concertos. In addition, their discography includes the complete works of Webern for string quartet (for Harmonia Mundi), which received the coveted "Choc" award of Le Monde de la Musique. The Debussy Quartet is based in Lyon, France. Its members are the founders of Les Cordes en Ballade a chamber music festival and an academy of chamber music in the South of France, where they perform and teach each summer.
QUARTET THEMATIC SUGGESTIONS 1 AMERICA! FUGUES AND REQUIEM HEROINES FRENCH INSPIRATION CLASSIC! CHEFS-D ŒUVRE DAYS AND NIGHTS 1 QUARTET THEMATIC SUGGESTIONS A short selection of programs for the Debussy Quartet world tour! In addition to these suggestions, you can choose from among a selection of some of the most well-known string quartets. We would also be delighted to consider your personal requests and to offer you a customized program based on your needs and desires. FUGUES AND REQUIEM A fugue festival! Johann-Sebastian BACH: The art of fugue (extracts for string quartet) Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Great Fugue opus 133 Astor PIAZZOLLA: Fuga y Misterio Thierry PÉCOU: Fuga del son (creation 2012) Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: Requiem, transcription by P. Lichtenthal (1802) CLASSIC! Opus, Köchel and Hoboken Joseph HAYDN: quartet n 1, Hoboken III.1 Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: quartet Köchel 421 Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: quartet n 11 opus 95 Serioso HEROINES Tragic fates Leoš JANÁCEK: ˇ quartet n 1 Kreutzer sonata Dimitri SHOSTAKOVICH: "Lady Macbeth of the Mzensk district" Franz SCHUBERT: quartet n 14 Death and the Maiden DAYS AND NIGHTS From dawn to twilight, a magical program for everyone! Joseph HAYDN: quartet opus 76 n 4 Sunrise Henri DUTILLEUX: quartet Thus the night Alexander BORODINE: quartet n 2 CHEFS-D ŒUVRE Quite simply! Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: Sérénade n 13 A little night music Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Great Fugue opus 133 Franz SCHUBERT: quartet n 14 Death and the Maiden FRENCH INSPIRATION A tribute to the French art of quartet Guillaume LEKEU: Molto adagio for string quartet Edouard LALO: quatuor opus 45 Maurice RAVEL: quatuor AMERICA! American dreams Samuel BARBER: quartet opus 11 George GERSHWIN: Lullaby and Summertime for string quartet Glenn MILLER: Moonlight Serenade Anton DVORÁK: ˇ quartet n 12 opus 96 American
2 MUSIC, DANCE BOXE BOXE Cie Käfig Mourad Merzouki and the Debussy String Quartet Piece for 8 dancers et 4 musicians Created in September of 2010, at the Biennal Dance Festival of Lyon (Fr.) 2 A hip-hop company and a string quartet, unimaginable? The Debussy String Quartet and Mourad Merzouki don t think so, which is why they dauntlessly join forces for a performance based on boxing. On go the gloves and the battle begins! Summoned into the ring are the composers Maurice Ravel, Giuseppe Verdi, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert with his celebrated Death and the Maiden quartet, Philipp Glass with Dracula, and Henryk Gorecki. In "Boxe Boxe", the Debussy Quartet is the lord of the ring! MUSIC, DANCE BOXE BOXE Cie Käfig Mourad Merzouki and the Debussy String Quartet Michel CAVALCA
3 MUSIC, CIRCUS 3 MUSIC, CIRCUS OPUS CIRCA Cie CIRCA - Yaron Lifschitz and the Debussy String Quartet OPUS CIRCA Cie CIRCA - Yaron Lifschitz and the Debussy String Quartet Piece for 14 circassians and 4 musicians Created in June of 2013, for the Nuits de Fourvière, in Lyon (Fr.) creation 2013 Directed by Yaron Lifschitz, Circa s artistic director, "Opus" will feature 14 Circa artists and the Debussy String Quartet. At the heart of this project, the joint passion of Yaron Lifschitz and the Debussy String Quartet for Shostakovich s String Quartets and the desire to celebrate and illuminate the work of a composer whose experience with power and history are emblematic of the murderous and artistically fecund 20th Century. The vast new creation which emerges is a delicate and savage dance between chamber music and contemporary circus, which gathers on stage a string quartet and a large company of acrobats moving together, making physical music, touching and troubling and releasing the hearts and minds and souls of those who watch. Justin Nicholas
4 LET S JAZZ This year, the Debussy String Quartet confirms its interest for jazz with two different programs: first, a cheerful project shared/co-created with the great multiform-pianist-composer Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, a brilliant bass player and Chet Baker s fellow-traveller. Since, the Franck Tortiller Trio & Debussy Quartet Project, based on a mix of classical music and jazz, including Franck Tortiller s composition, Five grape varieties. Let s jazz! PIANO-JAZZ, BASS & THE DEBUSSY QUARTET With Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse creation 2012 THE FRANCK TORTILLER TRIO & THE DEBUSSY QUARTET With the Franck Tortiller Trio creation 2013 4 LET S JAZZ PIANO-JAZZ, BASS & THE DEBUSSY QUARTET With Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse THE FRANCK TORTILLER TRIO & THE DEBUSSY QUARTET With the Franck Tortiller Trio
SPECIAL PROJECTS OTTETTISSIMO! From New York to Moscow With the Sendrez String Quartet VIVA VERDI! An opera quartet 5 5 SPECIAL PROJECTS OTTETTISSIMO! From New York to Moscow With the Sendrez string Quartet Marc MELLITS: octet Dimitri SHOSTAKOVICH: 2 pieces for string quartet Dimitri SHOSTAKOVICH: Prelude and scherzo, 2 pieces for a string octet Astor PIAZZOLLA: Tango ballet Osvaldo GOLIJOV: Last round A young but talented quartet and a renowned string quartet share the same stage for this program in which grace, spirit and virtuosity are mixed for an intense musical moment! VIVA VERDI! An opera quartet Gioachino ROSSINI: quartet n 5 Giacomo PUCCINI: Crisantemi Vincenzo BELLINI: Arias Giuseppe VERDI: Luisa Miller, transcription by E. Muzio (1849) To celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the master of opera, the Debussy string Quartet presents a program straight out of the romantic 19th Century in Italy with its love of the art of opera. At this time, it was quite common to perform opera music in smaller ensembles, such as the string quartet, so that it could be heard in lounges and salons, and give the audience an intimate version of Puccini, Rossini, Bellini and Verdi s masterpieces.
6 COMPLETE WORKS BARTÓK STRING QUARTETS An imaginative folklore 6 COMPLETE WORKS BARTÓK STRING QUARTETS An imaginative folklore After the Complete string quartets of Shostakovich and the complete works of Webern, this is the new masterpiece that the Debussy string Quartet has decided to focus its energies on! These six string quartets are like transcriptions of Bartók s Memoirs: composed between 1908 and 1939 they not only echo the development of the composer s sensitivity and some intimate events in his life, but they also allude to 20th Century European History. DON T HESITATE TO ALSO ASK FOR THE SHOSTAKOVICH COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS AND THE WEBERN COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS!