Source: artisticmanagement.eu
Lukas Hagen, violin | Rainer Schmidt, violin | Veronika Hagen, viola | Clemens Hagen, cello
After concerts by the “four Salzburg world-class string players” (Hamburger Abendblatt), there is often “an almost minutes-long silence, a reflection of having experienced something extraordinary.” This is how the press describes it. For the audience, there remains “only one wish: May it never end.”
In the 2024/25 season, the Hagen Quartet will focus on the string quartets of Haydn, Schumann, Janáček, and Brahms. The program also includes quintets by Mozart and Brahms, performed with Sabine Meyer and Jörg Widmann, as well as Schubert’s quintets with Julia Hagen and Gautier Capuçon. Tours in 2024/25 will take the Hagen Quartet to France, Norway, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, and the United States. Alongside their concert cycle at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the quartet will perform at venues such as the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, Wigmore Hall in London, and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
The Hagen Quartet’s unparalleled, four-decade-long career began in 1981. Its early years were marked by competition successes and an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Over decades of collaboration, the ensemble released numerous recordings that explored the seemingly infinite quartet repertoire, helping to shape the quartet’s unmistakable artistic identity. Subsequent recordings with the myrios classics label have also been lauded by international critics and have won prestigious awards. Most recently, a recording featuring Jörg Widmann and clarinet quintets by Widmann and Mozart has been released. The Hagen Quartet has been an honorary member of the Vienna Konzerthaus since 2012 and, in 2019, was awarded the Concertgebouw Amsterdam Prize for its long-standing artistic achievements.
The quartet’s repertoire consists of refined and intelligently curated programs that span the entire history of the string quartet. In addition, the Hagen Quartet is dedicated to premiering works by composers of its own generation. Collaborations with artists such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and György Kurtág have been as significant to the quartet as joint performances with Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, Heinrich Schiff, Jörg Widmann, Kirill Gerstein, Sol Gabetta, and Gautier Capuçon.
For many young string quartets, the Hagen Quartet is a role model in terms of sound quality, stylistic versatility, ensemble playing, and a deep engagement with the works and composers of the genre. As teachers and mentors at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, and in international masterclasses, the members of the quartet pass on this wealth of experience to their younger colleagues.
The Hagen Quartet performs on historic Italian master instruments.
