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Regarded as one of the great chamber ensembles of the world, the Alban Berg Quartet will next month give its first concert in Hong Kong since performing at the opening of the Cultural Centre in 1989.
Featuring Haydn's "String Quartet in D, Op. 20, No. 4"; Rihm's "Grave" (In Memoriam the late member Thomas Kakuska who passed away in 2005) and Beethoven's "String Quartet in B-flat, Op. 130/Op.133" (Grosse Fuge), the concert will be held at 8pm on Saturday, May 26, at the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong City Hall.
Debuted in the Vienna Konzerthaus (1971), the name of this famous quartet is a symbol for its affinity with the Viennese classical and romantic traditions and the Viennese school; beyond this it stands for commitment to contemporary music.
The quartet is also recognised worldwide through the numerous recordings (among others the complete works of Beethoven, Brahms, Bartok, Webern, Berg; live recordings of concerts in the Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Opera Comique in Paris and the Royal Festival Hall in London) which have been awarded more than 30 international prizes.
The quartet has its own concert series at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Opera in Zurich, the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, the Philharmonie in Cologne and at the Alte Oper Frankfurt.
In 2005 Alban Berg suffered a painful loss with the death of violist Thomas Kakuska. The others members of the quartet, violinists Gunter Pichler and Gerhard Schulz as well as violocellist Valentin Erben, continue their concert activities with violist Isabel Charisius, all out of conviction and in the spirit of Thomas Kakuska.
Concert by Alban Berg Quartet is one of the programmes in "Encore Series" presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
Tickets priced at $380, $280, $200 and $100 will be available at URBTIX outlets from April 13 (Friday) onwards, while senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients may have 50% off (limited quotas for students and CSSA recipients on a first-come, first-served basis). A 10% discount applies to Friends of LCSD performing venues.
For enquiries about the programmes, call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Thursday, April 12, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:00
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