Quatuor Danel

The Quatuor Danel has been at the forefront of the European music scene for more than twenty years, and with their bold, vibrant, and concentrated performance style caused a sensation with their debut North American tour in 2015-16. Subsequent tours have taken the Quartet to the major series and cities in the United States and Canada, including concerts at New York’s Frick Collection and The Clarice Smith in Maryland, and in San Francisco, Montreal, and Washington, D.C. The Quartet’s singular voice, uncompromising depth, and utter commitment to the group’s interpretations set the Danel apart from every other string quartet performing today.

The ensemble is famous for its deeply personal interpretations of the string quartet cycles of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Weinberg, and their lively and fresh vision of traditional quartet repertoire has won them lavish praise from both the public and the press. In addition, Russian composers have a vital place in the Quatuor Danel’s repertoire: they have championed the string quartets of Shostakovich, and their recently reissued recording of the complete cycle is considered one of the benchmark interpretations of these quartets. Uniquely among string quartets, the Danel has worked closely with both Valentin Berlinsky from the Borodin Quartet as well as Irina Shostakovich to refine the deeply personal interpretations of Russian music for which they are revered in Europe. Their long personal relationship and exceptionally close work with Dmitri Shostakovich’s widow Irina informed these performances in a specific and profoundly personal way, offering a very rarely accessed glimpse into Shostakovich’s genius. 

Over the past three years the Quatuor Danel has recorded the previously unknown quartet oeuvre of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, the neglected contemporary of Shostakovich, for the CD label CPO. The Quartet will continue to offer this breathtakingly beautiful repertoire in coming seasons. In addition, they have collaborated with major contemporary composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, Helmutt Lachenmann, Sofia Gubaidulina, Pascal Dusapin, and the stars of the younger generation including Jörg Widmann and Bruno Mantovani.

The Quartet’s upcoming concerts will take them to the major halls in Brussels, Amsterdam, Moscow, Paris, London, Madrid, Vienna, Berlin, Beijing, Tokyo, and New York. The Quatuor Danel is a regular guest at the major European festivals, and performed at the Ottawa ChamberFest in both 2016, 2018, and 2019. Recent and upcoming recording projects consist of the three Tchaikovsky quartets, the Quartet and Piano Quintet by Franck with pianist Paavali Jumppanen, and a longer-term project combining all the string quartets of Haydn with late Beethoven.

At the very heart of the Quatuor Danel’s work lies their ambassadorship for young musicians in general and string quartets in particular. As the artist-in-residence at the University of Manchester (England) since 2005, the Quartet works closely with students, with teaching and master classes as a fundamental part of their activities.

The Quatuor Danel is sponsored by SPEDIDAM (Society of Receipt and Distribution of the Royalties for Artists in Music and Dance), an artist society that manages the rights of artists (including musicians, members of choruses, or dancers) in recording, broadcasting, and the use of recorded performances.