News

departure - our new album!

cd cover "departure" von Hajo Müller

We are excited to announce the release of our newest CD, "departure" in fall 2024! 
 

-> Listen here: departure

Release: 15.11.2024

Reviews

"[...] what makes the album truly special is the energy of the Frankfurt-based group's playing and the thrill of music-making that's palpable in their July 2024-recorded renditions. Beethoven's might have been published more than two centuries ago, but it's performed with the vitality and excitement of material newly created and publicly debuted."
-> textura

 

"The Malion Quartet performs in a wide range of styles"
-> pizzicato

 

"The Malion Quartett’s Beethoven is dynamic and full of colourful variety"
-> MusicWeb International


 

Malion Musikfestival '24

Malion Musikfestival Plakat

The Malion Quartet is proud to present the second instalment of its very own Malion Music Festival! Over two weeks in the beautiful Orangerie im Günthersburgpark, we will be playing an array of different concerts, and have the pleasure of being joined by two wonderful guest musicians - the world renowned pianist Kit Armstrong, and the fantastic Ukrainian soprano Daria Tymoshenko, culminating with a grand finale in the Alte Oper Frankfurt.

 

For tickets, click here:

 

30.09.2024 
schöne welt, wo bist du?
19:30, orangerie im günthersburgpark
Malion Quartett and Kit Armstrong (Piano)
Szymanowski, Montgomery and Dvořák
35€/20€

 

2.10.2024 
ON/OFFstage: beethoven
19:30, orangerie im günthersburgpark
25€/15€

 

4.10.2024 
colours of the night
19:30 orangerie im günthersburgpark
Holst, Dutilleux and Schubert
35 €/20€

 

5.10.2024 
ON/OFFstage: webern
19:30 orangerie im günthersburgpark
25€/15€

 

6.10.2024 
OFFstage: pop-up konzert
15:00 orangerie im günthersburgpark
pay what you can

 

11.10.2024 
luft von anderen planeten
20:00, alte oper frankfurt
Malion Quartett and Daria Tymoshenko (Soprano)
Bach, Mozart and Schönberg
Tickets from 21,60 €

ON/OFFstage: the film

Presse

Malion Quartett Ensemble

"[...] what makes the album truly special is the energy of the Frankfurt-based group's playing and the thrill of music-making that's palpable in their July 2024-recorded renditions. Beethoven's might have been published more than two centuries ago, but it's performed with the vitality and excitement of material newly created and publicly debuted."
textura

 

“Mit den herben, gleichwohl spannenden Experimenten in Jörg Widmanns erstem Streichquartett, exquisit gespielt vom Malion Quartett, begann der vierstündige Reigen.”

→ Klaus Kalchschmid, Süddeutsche Zeitung

 

“Eine solche bedingungslose und hingebungsvolle Liebe zur Musik wie Brahms sie wohl empfand, konnte man auch am Mittwochabend beim Preisträgerkonzert des Ensemblestipendiums miterleben. (…) Das Ensemble erzeuge mit seiner Arbeit „eine Intimität, die auch erlebbar ist“ – unabhängig von der Größe des Saals. Und tatsächlich wirkte das Quartett wie ein einzelner und ausgezeichnet funktionierender Organismus bestehend aus vier exzellenten Musiker*innen. Man sah und hörte ein Miteinander, in dem das Individuum vollkommen in der Gemeinschaft und dem kollektiven Spiel aufging – ohne dabei an Profil oder an Ecken und Kanten zu verlieren.”

→ Website der HfMDK Frankfurt

 

“Was für eine Zauberkraft aber Musik in so meisterhafter Form entfalten kann, war schwer eindrucksvoll: Es schien in den sanften Abschnitten so, als strebten die Töne gegen ihre Bewegungsrichtung einander zu, als wollten sie sich umarmen.”

→ Guido Holze, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

 

“Das Malion Quartett entfesselt eine Dynamik und Kraft, legt Tempo vor. Trotz seines kühnen Überschwangs wirkt das alles so spielend, unbekümmert leicht, erfrischend virtuos.”

→ Rüdiger Schwarz, Gäubote

 

“Ein junges Ensemble mit enormen Potenzial (…) ein außergewöhnlich homogenes und klares Klangbild (…) Eindringlich, die berührend leisen Passagen.”

→ Schwäbisches Tagblatt

 

“Durch alle Höhen und Tiefen dieses Stücks hindurch bleiben die Vier souverän, besonders schön in den rührenden lyrischen Passagen und den Anflügen Beethovenschen Humors. Eine wahrhaft reife Leistung – so authentisch bebildert, dass man den Film gleich mehrmals anschauen kann.”

→ Villa Musica

 

“Was das Quartett dann abliefert, sorgt für eine Art Glücksrausch im Publikum. Das Malion Quartett zeigt seine enorme Bandbreite zwischen kraftvoll-markantem Fortissimo und klanglichen Abschattierungen (…) ein kaum zu erwartendes Niveau erreicht, das begeistert. Man wird angenehm schwindelig von dem Klangrausch (…) folgte eine grandiose Zugabe. Auch hier weiß das Quartett genau, wann anspruchsvolle Virtuosität gefragt ist, denn Dvořáks Zweiklang aus Folklore und Kunstmusik lässt andere Ensembles oft scheitern.”

→ Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung

Debut-CD

Malionquartett Debüt CD

Debut-CD: a scary but exciting term for any artist. What do we pick, what represents us, who are we? Our journey with Beethoven began unusually, at the start of 2021, when we somehow became more and more fascinated with Große Fuge op. 133, eventually ending up producing a recording and music video of this late work. After the great success of the Fuge, we decided to go back to the very first of Beethoven’s 16 quartets – to op.18 no.1. A fundamentally different piece, we became just as fond of discovering the earliest of the composer’s quartets, but for very different reasons – just as we were discovering ourselves as a group, Beethoven was discovering his own voice as a quartet composer. After working personally with the composer Jörg Widmann on his own first quartet, who spoke of the “burden of writing a quartet after all the greats – Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert,” it quickly became apparent to us that with the idea of embarking upon the “first” of any project, every artist is forced to recognise the enormity of the task ahead of them. It was therefore surprisingly easy to then pick the third and last piece for our CD: Brahms’ 2nd string quartet – one of the very first pieces which we played together, and a work which has since established itself as a firm favourite within the group. 

 

Ultimately, this collection of “firsts” seemed to resonate with us the most – after all, isn’t it better to share the burden of a debut, than to shoulder it alone?

 

Malion Quartet 

 

Review www.hr2.de

CD-Trailer www.youtube.com

If you would like to purchase a CD, please send an e-mail to: info@malionquartett.com
 

Price: 20 Euro,

plus shipping cost

Malion Quartett CD Cover

Quartett in Residence im Holzhausenschlösschen

Malion Quartett in Residence

We are thrilled to have been selected as the “Quartet in residence” in Holzhausenschlösschen for the year 2023. We would like to thank Clemens Greve, the director of the Frankfurter Bürgerstiftung, for offering us such a wonderful opportunity and look back fondly on five wonderful concerts!

 

13.–27. November 2023 | Holzhausenschlösschen | String Quartet in Residence

 

Monday, 13. November 2023 – 7.30 pm

Romantische Nacht

Works by Webern, Mendelssohn and Beethoven

 

Wednesday, 15. November 2023 – 7.30 pm 
Link: Juliet Letters

Works by Ginastera and Costello
(with Karsten Schmidt-Hern, Tenor)

 

Sunday, 19. November 2023 – 11 am

Link: In aller Kürze

Works by Beethoven, Webern und Mozart
(with Krzysztof Chorzelski, Viola)

 

Wednesday, 22. November 2023 – 7.30 pm

Link: Nachtgedanken

Works by Szymanowski, Stravinsky und Brahms
(with Andrej Jussow, Klavier)

 

Monday, 27. November 2023 – 7.30 pm 

Link: Der Klang von draußen

Works by Debussy und Bartók
(with Kaan Bulak, Composer, Pianist and Producer)

 

Frühkritik www.hr2.de

Special Prize: Ambassador Ensemble of the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition 2023

Malion Quartett Sonderpreis

We are honored to have taken home a special prize from the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition: “Ambassador Ensemble of the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition 2023.” As the prize recipients, we will perform at the String Quartet Biennale 2024 of the VdSQ in Munich.

 

Our first trip to Japan as a quartet was an enriching one, where we had the opportunity to perform on the world-class stage of Izumi Hall, meet inspiring artists from around the world, and take a glimpse into a fascinating culture. We are very grateful to the Japan Chamber Music Foundation for giving us this opportunity and were immensely inspired by their show of commitment to chamber music. 

Malion Quartett Sonderpreis

Miki Nagahara

Malion Quartett Miki Nagahara

Nachdem die amerikanische Geigerin Miki Nagahara im Januar 2023 neu in unser Quartett kam, haben wir am 18. Januar 2023 beim Internationalen Streichquartettwettbewerb der Irene Steels-Wilsing-Stiftung in Heidelberg teilgenommen und auf Anhieb den 3. Preis gewonnen. Schöner hätte ein gemeinsamer Beginn kaum sein können!