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A thing for strings

Chamber music fest revives and celebrates a great tradition
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By Frank Kuznik
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 15th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
The Herold Quartet opens a new string quartet festival under the patronage of Josef Suk.
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COURTESY PHOTO
Josef Suk.
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Divertimenti in Prague

When: Aug. 19–26
Where: Bertramka, Four Seasons Hotel
Tickets: 450–600 Kč through Viamusica and at the venues
For individual concerts, see the daily Calendar listings; for a complete schedule, check
www.bertramka.com

Visiting the eminent Czech violinist Josef Suk at his home is like walking into a museum devoted to his grandfather, the composer and violinist Josef Suk, and great-grandfather, the legendary composer Antonín Dvořák. The foyer is dominated by a large drawing of the Czech Quartet, the seminal early 20th-century ensemble that established the world-class quality and reputation of Czech string quartets.
“That’s my grandfather, playing second violin,” Suk says proudly.
Along with his grandfather’s considerable playing skills, Suk inherited his love of string ensembles.
“In my school days, I was a member of the Prague Quartet, which was a great experience for me,” he says. “I stopped because I wanted to develop a solo career, and then I founded the Suk Trio, and you can’t do everything. But I regret that I didn’t stay with the quartet. Many composers wrote their most beautiful music for string quartets.”
Which explains why Suk was happy to sign on as the patron of Divertimenti in Prague, a new string quartet festival that debuts this weekend at Bertramka. This first installment is brief, with just five concerts. But they feature some of the country’s finest string quartets, all of whom come with Suk’s imprimatur.
“I’ve played with all of them; I know them very well,” he says. “And for me, the best kind of music is chamber music. So I’m happy to participate in this festival.”
Divertimenti started with an idea proposed by Vivienne Pittendrigh, an Australian expat who organizes cultural tours, and her friend Sasha Stepanová, a Czech-Australian who works as an international lawyer in Prague. Pittendrigh puts on an annual string quartet festival on the island of Corfu in Greece, where last year Stepanová suggested they try the same thing in Prague. Pittendrigh loved the idea.
“I was connected with an international string quartet festival which started in Prague in 1994, but unfortunately stopped in 2005,” she says. “I feel Prague is the ideal place for a string quartet festival, as for me it is the home of chamber music. So many wonderful quartets!”
Through connections she had established working on the previous festival, Pittendrigh was able to line up commitments from a stellar cast: the Herold, Nostitz, Stamic and Prazak quartets, along with the Kocian Quartet, playing as a quintet with Karel Untermuller on viola. The lineup was impressive enough to convince Lenka Pokorná, the director of the Bertramka villa and museum, to add the festival to her facility’s busy concert schedule.
“There is so much music in Prague, so many concerts every day, people have a lot to choose from,” Pokorná says. “But quality is another matter. And that’s what this festival is about.”
Four of the five concerts will be held on Bertramka’s charming outdoor terrace (weather permitting). Because the date for the fifth concert was already booked, it will be held instead at the Four Seasons Hotel, in a room that opens onto a riverside terrace with a view of the castle. The programming includes plenty of Mozart (a requirement for concerts at Bertramka), most of the major Czech composers and prime pieces from Schubert, Ravel, Mendelssohn and Brahms.
Pittendrigh says the programs were designed with both sophisticated and inexperienced listeners in mind. “It’s for the regular chamber music audience in Prague as well as visitors, tourists who have not had much experience with string quartets,” she says. As for what the festival will accomplish, she says, “I hope it will add to the already incredibly rich cultural life in Prague. I feel the Czech quartets are among the greatest in the world.”
It’s not surprising that Suk would share that opinion, though he brings the heft of a half-century as a world-class performer and his illustrious lineage to the mix. Still, when he talks about string quartets, it’s with the enthusiasm of someone discovering them for the first time.
“I’m glad to see the string quartet festival back and very honored to be the patron of it,” he says. “I hope the audience will come — these are wonderful programs. And this is a great new beginning.”

Frank Kuznik can be reached at fkuznik@praguepost.com


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