Press

“Theatre at the Philharmonic”

“Theatre at the Philharmonic” a series of theatre concerts where letters written by famous composers are read, begins tomorrow at the Belgrade Philharmonic Concert Hall.
The first in the series is dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose letters will be read by actress Tamara Krcunovic and actor Vladimir Aleksic, and some of the famous composer’s selected pieces will be performed by the musicians of the Belgrade Philharmonic.
The theatre concert dedicated to Mozart, his works and the spirit of the times when they were created, was directed by Vlatko Ilić.
Inspired by Mozart’s music, his letters to his father, sister, wife, friends and those who might have been of help to him, the actors will present on the stage sights dedicated to Mozart, Mozart who is constantly struggling for the conditions in which he could live and create his music according to his own beliefs.
The Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet, together with their fellow-musicians gathered into a chamber ensemble, will perform pieces composed at the time of writing the selected letters, and having the same atmosphere, reflecting in style different periods of Mozart’s creativity.

“Dealing with Mozart, as well as other prominent personalities from the world history, never means just working on the authentic material – in this case his compositions and letters – but also on how we understand and present him. That is why he is today an example of a child prodigy, just as Forman’s Amadeus, but also an image covering the famous Mozart balls throughout Vienna and Austria, whereas the way we approach the material reveals more ourselves and our time than Mozart himself, if there can be any discussion at all about himself personally”, says Vlatko Ilić.
In parallel with the regular concert season, the chamber scene of the Belgrade Philharmonic goes on as well, connecting in this season through the “Theatre at the Philharmonic”, the theatre and music art and turning it into a unique event.
By using the composers’ correspondence with persons of importance to them, on the one hand, and their creativity on the other hand, a singular and intimate new genre is formed – a theatre concert, a new work of art performed through music and words.
The next “reading” is scheduled for 1st December, with Tchaikovsky’s correspondence and music in the focus.

http://www.tanjug.rs/mobile/full-view.aspx?izb=279385

The Quartet at the Days of Mokranjac

Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet performed at the 51st Days of Mokranjac in Negotin, on Monday, 12thSeptember. The fourth day of the festival was devoted to the music of Petar Konjovic and Dmitri Shostakovich, performed on the Small stage of the Cultural Centre, at the Krajina Cinema.
Four musicians – Jelena Dragnic (first violin), Vladan Loncar (second violin), Boris Brezovac (viola) and Aleksandar Latkovic (cello), prepared for the festival audience the rarely performed Konjovic Quartet No.2 and Shostakovich’s Quartet No.4.

“Not so many people know that Mokranjac was the founder of the string quartet in Serbia, back in 1889. Negotin is alive owing to the immortal Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac and his work. We are happy to have contributed, through our performance of the Second String Quartet by Petar Konjovic at the Days of Mokranjac, which was last performed more than thirty years ago, to keeping this event go on and also to preserving the Serbian cultural heritage“, said Jelena Dragnic on behalf of the Quartet.

 

The magic of strings

Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet performed at Espressivo Music Festival Cetinje, in the premises of the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro.
Members of the Quartet, Jelena Dragić  (violin), Vladan Lončar (violin), Boris Brezovac (viola) and Aleksandar Latković  (cello), played with their special guest Jorg Winkler, solo violist of the Maggio Musicale Orchestra of Florence, whose Chief Conductor is Zubin Mehta.

– It was a great pleasure to perform with the great musicians and my friends from the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet. I enjoyed preparing the concert, for they accepted me straightaway as their member -said Winkler. – Although we played for the first time together, it seemed as if we had behind us years of working together. We gave an excellent concert and I look forward to meeting them at some time again and working together.

On this occasion, the Quartet performed the Shostakovich String Quartet No. 4, and together with Jorg Winkler they played the Mozart String Quintet for two violas in G minor.
The musicians of the Belgrade Philharmonic recently celebrated five years of the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet’s work.

http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/kultura.71.html:619130-Carolija-gudala

 

 

Concert performed at Cetinje by the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet and Jorg Winkler

On Thursday, 4thAugust, starting at 9 p.m., the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet and Jorg Winkler (viola) will give a concert at the Cetinje Concert Hall of the Ministry of Culture (Espressivo Music Festival 2016).
The musicians of the Belgrade Philharmonic Jelena Dragnić, Vladan Lončar, Boris Brezovac and Aleksandar Latković founded their String Quartet within this orchestra in 2011.
In April 2016, the Quartet opened the Sombor Music Festival, realized their first visit to the Turkish city of Izmir and performed at the National Theatre of the Republic Srpska, on occasion of the Day of the city of Banja Luka. In addition to these performances, some of the Quartet’s recent highlights include several successful concerts in the United Arab Emirates, let us mention their performance on the stage of Manarat Al Saadiyat at the Abu Dhabi Classics Festival, their performance at the concert season opening of “Chamber Music in the Desert”, in the Liwa Oasis at Qasr Al Sarab, their two performances at Tianjin Concert Hall during their first, very successful visit to China, and their concert at the Serbian Cultural Centre in Paris. The Quartet’s performance at Studio 6 of Radio Belgrade was broadcast live by RTS Digital.
In January 2016, the Quartet members were mentors to young students at the Winter String Quartet Workshop in Podgorica. On that occasion, they opened the Winter season of the Cultural and Press Centre Budo Tomovic, by giving a concert at the Modern Gallery of the Museum city of Podgorica.
In June 2015, the Quartet’s first compact disc was published by the Belgrade Philharmonic, containing the works of Beethoven and Brahms and with the participation of clarinettist Ognjen Popović.

In the concert season 2013/14, the Quartet gave with their guests performances of five programmes for chamber music, at the Belgrade Philharmonic Concert Hall, in the form of cycle, which they named Quartet+1.

Other than compositions for the string quartet, this cycle also included quintets for two violas, quintets with clarinet, piano and voice.
In the concert season 2012/13, the Quartet gave, on the main stage of Kolarac Concert Hall, a memorable performance of the Concert for the string quartet and orchestra by Edwin Schulhoff, played with the Belgrade Philharmonic and directed by the former chief conductor Muhai Tang.
Other former performances by the Quartet, in Serbia and the regional countries, included the opening of Classic Fest in Pancevo, celebration of the Europe Day, organized by the EU Office in Serbia, performance at the Creative Europe Conference at the Cultural Centre Grad, concerts on the Amadeus Royal cruiser sailing from Vienna to the Black Sea, concerts at Gračanica, Kragujevac, Indjia, Mostar and Trebinje, and also performances at Gornji Milanovac, Subotica, Vršac and the village of Stanišor in Kosovo & Metohia, as part of the charity and social accountability projects of the Belgrade Philharmonic

http://www.culture-corner.me/dogadjaji.php?id=21122

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

Thank you Kristina Ugrin for your wonderful sketches!

Performance in Banjaluka

Gift by the Serbian Consulate General to the citizens of Banjaluka on the occasion of Banjaluka City Day: Performance by the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet in Banjaluka

On 22nd April, 2016, the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet gave a concert at the National Theatre of the Republic Srpska in Banjaluka, calling it “A Gift to Banjaluka”, donated by the Serbian Consulate General to the citizens of Banjaluka, on the occasion of Banjaluka City Day.
The members of the String Quartet are Jelena Dragnić (first violin), Vladan Lončar (second violin), Boris Brezovac (viola) and Aleksandar Latković (cello), musicians of the Belgrade Philharmonic; they founded the String Quartet within the orchestra in 2011. Their synchronized interpretation emitted, throughout the concert, an energetic and high-spirited expression, together with a warm lyricism and sensibility for different styles typical for the pieces performed.

In their aspiration to produce a rich and powerful sound, the String Quartet provided the numerous audience a singular pleasure; the audience was visibly touched by the music and emotions of the concert and rewarded the performers with a long applause, calling them several times to come back on the stage.
In addition to the concert programme, the Quartet performed a pensive hymn of the Serbian landless warriors “Far away there”, as an encore, which caused general exaltation in the audience, who could not resist singing the most emotional parts of the hymn.

After this remarkable concert, the Serbian Consul General in Banjaluka, Mr.Vladimir Nikolić, handed a basket of special floral display as a gift to Jelena Dragnić, the Quartet’s first violin, and invited the audience to a cocktail organized together with the Mtel Company.

Compact disc available for sale!

From now on, our CD is available for sale at the Wine Atelier Shapat in Belgrade, located at the corner of Carice Milice Street and Marsala Birjuzova Street!

Concert at the Gerontology Centre in Vrsac

“Old age is a punishment to which people are condemned, if we do not help them”,

By quoting the Serbian poet Dusko Radovic, the Belgrade Philharmonic String Quartet began their concert at the Gerontology Centre in Vrsac last night, given in honour of the month of October as the International Month of Older Persons.
After conveying the message that we should take care of our oldest population every day, the musicians met the tenants of the Gerontology Centre, and then gave their performance dedicated to them. The staff and the beneficiaries agreed that music had a therapeutic and anti-depressive effect, rewarding the Quartet with a long applause.
The String Quartet performed for the beneficiaries of the Old People’s Home under the Hill of Vrsac, a part of their standard repertoire, which they will present at the prestigious Abu Dhabi Festival at the end of October. For the Centre’s tenants, who cannot travel to Belgrade for concerts, this ensemble played the works of Beethoven and Ravel.
The Belgrade Philharmonic will try, regardless of intensive activities going on in the current concert season, to give their full attention also to the audience outside of Belgrade, and to those to whom concerts at the Kolarac Concert Hall are not accessible.