Mandelring Quartet plays Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Ligeti in Friends of Chamber Music concert, October 29
Now in their 40th-anniversary year, critically acclaimed group returns to Vancouver for the first time since 2016
Friends of Chamber Music present the Mandelring Quartet on October 29 at 3 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse
GERMANY’S CRITICALLY acclaimed Mandelring Quartet is marking its 40th-anniversary year with concerts around the world. As luck would have it for local audiences, the group is returning to Vancouver in a Friends of Chamber Music show for the first time since 2016.
Violinists Sebastian Schmidt and Nanette Schmidt, violist Andreas Willwohl, and cellist Bernhard Schmidt craft a complex sound that has won them numerous prestigious competitions, including Germany’s ARD International Music Competition and Italy’s Premio Paolo Borciani.
In 1997, the group founded the annual Hambacher MusikFest, a beacon for chamber music in their hometown of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse.
The Mandelring Quartet have performed in Madrid’s Spanish Royal Palace four times, most recently this spring—the 18th-century Baroque architecture-style building, spanning 1.5 million square feet with over 1,400 rooms, is notably the largest royal palace in Europe. The group played using the royal collection of Stradivari instruments, crafted by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari from in the late 1600s and early 1700s and praised for their high-caliber sound.
Several CD recordings have been released by the quartet, earning them the German Record Critics’ Prize and nominations for the International Classical Music Awards. Their most recent release, 2021’s Debussy & Rivier string quartets, pairs the works of two French composers—one a well-known classic, the other a passionately varied hidden gem.
The quartet is set to play three stunning string works at the Vancouver Playhouse: Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Opus 49, Hungarian-Austrian composer György Ligeti’s “Métamorphoses Nocturnes”, and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Opus 132.
Late Beethoven quartets are quintessential to any Friends of Chamber Music season, and Mandelring will deliver just that.
Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.
Related Articles
Annual concert at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church features such seasonal staples as “Silent Night” and “Maybe This Christmas”, plus two new arrangements
Seasonal standouts include a massive choral Messiah, and different takes on A Christmas Carol—including one with 10-foot-high puppets
Seasonal favourite sets timeless classics by Robert Pearsall and Morten Lauridsen, plus new works by B.C. composers, to the gentle glow of candles
Annual performance of beloved oratorio features soprano Caitlin Wood, alto Nicholas Burns, tenor Spencer Britten, and bass Jonathon Adams
Canadian alt-pop icon admits the supergroup with Steven Page, Chris Murphy, Moe Berg, and Craig Northey would have seemed unthinkable back in the day
Respected musician plays two shows devoted to India’s oldest-surviving classical genre alongside pakhavaj artist Tejas Tope
Led by Paula DeWit, early-music ensemble Cantare Super Orchestram and a cappella group Belle Voci give the 1742 oratorio fresh style
The neuroscientist, writer, and musician’s conversation with André Picard has musical interludes by Chor Leoni
Program also features Steve Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder with the U.K.’s Synergy Vocals, a Linda Catlin Smith premiere, and John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons
Pianist’s performances of the works have received high praise, including from the composer himself
Presented by Vancouver Recital Society, the Djibouti-born musician brings tremendous vocal feeling to his instrument
New documentary from Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, a look at the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, screens directly afterward
More than 100 musicians will be making the journey to Ontario in March 2025
Winter tradition at the Heritage Hall promises enchanting music by pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa and vocalist Amanda Sum
Award-winning violinist to enchant audiences with Stravinsky’s stunning Violin Concerto and two Prokofiev symphonies
Led by Ts’msyen musician Saltwater Hank (aka Jeremy Pahl), group blends rock ’n’ roll elements with ancestral traditions
Twelve-song record layers compelling lyricism with heartfelt harmonies and poignant dissonances
Artist performs tracks from new album alongside Jane Bunnett, Dan Fortin, and Rebekah Wolkstein, with First Nations dancer Sarah Prosper and the NiteCap choir
The musical organization remounts Seasons of the Sea, which features words by Indigenous artist and storyteller Georgeson in a mixed program
Artistic director Kari Turunen programs a concert that honours his home country’s choral traditions, from simple folk to edgy modernism
World-renowned group marks its 27th show with the organization, featuring works by Haydn, Britten, and Beethoven
Singers from the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs unite with musicians in this annual performance of charming seasonal selections
Part puppet show, part film screening, and part concert, the show lets attendees in on its creation
At Mountain View Cemetery, musica intima and the Vancouver Bach Choir join forces with local brass players to perform a Phrase of Remembrance
On Remembrance Day, composer-in-residence Marie-Claire Saindon contributes new piece that tells of finding light in darkness
Free open house at VIVO Media Arts Centre features live performances by Matthew Ariaratnam, Andromeda Monk, Sapphire Haze, and Anju Singh
Festival co-curated with The Cultch’s Heather Redfern features the workshop premiere of Payette’s musical On Native Land, plus a new choral composition
Performing alongside pakhavaj artist Tejas Tope, Dagar explores the virtuosity of dhrupad, India’s oldest-surviving classical style
White rabbits and Magritte clouds, as Visions Ouest presents film of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal’s epic and affecting multimedia performance
Castalian String Quartet, violist Timothy Ridout, cellist Zlatomir Fung, and pianists Angela Cheng and Benjamin Hochman will perform two concerts in one day at the Vancouver Playhouse