Ludwig Quartet
The Ludwig Quartet is a French string quartet ensemble founded in 1985 and leading an international career. It is composed of Sébastien Surel, Manuel Doutrelant, Violaine Despeyroux and Anne Copéry.
History
The members of the Ludwig Quartet are all former students of the Conservatoire de Paris.In the 1990s, the Ludwig Quartet received advice from the conductor Sergiu Celibidache, and worked with the Berg, Tokyo, Amadeus, LaSalle and Kolish Quartets.
The Ludwig Quartet has won awards in numerous international competitions: Menuhin Foundation, Portsmouth, Arthur Honegger, Vittorio Gui of Florence... It was invited to spend a year of residency at Yale University and then solicited to become "Quatuor en Résidence" at the Conservatoire de Paris for a period of three years.
Hailed for its artistic rigour, the Ludwig Quartet is invited to give concerts all over the world, performing in Paris in particular, London, New-York, Taipei, Shanghai, Tokyo, Vancouver, Montréal, Toronto, Nouméa, Marrakech, Brussels and Louvain...
Over time, a demanding repertoire is built up, giving way to Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Turina, Janáček, Borodin, Shostakovich, Chausson, Debussy, Ravel, Franck, Alban Berg, Dutilleux, Webern, Ligeti, Fauré, Magnard, Lekeu, Honegger, Jehan Alain, Albeniz, Piazzolla... The Ludwig Quartet also participates in the premieres of contemporary works composed by Alain Louvier, Michaël Lévinas, Philippe Hersant, Thierry Escaich and Jean-François Zygel. In 2012, Ivan Jevtić's Quartet No. 4 in E minor premiered at the Festival international Albert-Roussel before being performed at the Festival Nimus in Serbia.
The Ludwig Quartet has sometimes joined other musicians for quintet concerts: François-René Duchâble, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Bertrand Chamayou, Brigitte Engerer, Bruno Pasquier, Michael Lévinas, Marie-Josèphe Jude, Emmanuelle Bertrand, Dmitri Berlinsky...
The Ludwig Quartet is also interested in the intersection of artistic disciplines and the decompartmentalization of classical music, by producing shows that feature personalities from other territories: actors Marie-Christine Barrault, Fanny Cottençon, Michel Bouquet, Didier Sandre, François Marthouret, Jean-François Balmer, Jean-Claude Drouot, Nicolas Vaude, dancer Jean Guizerix, and astro-physicist Hubert Reeves.
The founding members of the Ludwig Quartet are Chevaliers des Arts et Lettres.
Awards
The discography of the Ludwig Quartet has been rewarded:- Grand Prix du Disque Lyrique,
- Grand Prix de l'Académie du Disque Français et Grand Prix International du Disque of the Académie Charles-Cros for the complete quartets by Arthur Honegger
- Grand Prize for Chamber Music of the Midem in Cannes "Cannes Classical Awards", for his interpretation of Chausson's quartet and Franck's piano quintet with Michaël Levinas.
Discography
- Dmitri Shostakovich - Quartets n° 1 - 3 - 8 - 2011 -
- Joseph Haydn's - The Seven Last Words of Christ - Reissue 2009 -
- Johannes Brahms - Quartets No. 1 and 2 -
- Johannes Brahms - Quartet No. 3 and Quintet with clarinet -
- Johannes Brahms - String Quintets -
- César Franck - Quintet with piano - Ernest Chausson Quartet Opus 35 -
- Berg-Dutilleux-Webern -
- Honegger - Complete Quartets -
- Debussy-Ravel -
- Jehan Alain - Quintet - Sextet
- Jehan Alain - Messe modale -
- Jehan Alain - Jehan Alain retrouvé - - Diapason d'or of the year 2005
- Ernest Chausson - Les mélodies with Billy Eidi - piano, Sandrine Piau, Brigitte Balleys - Jean-François Gardeil -.
- Michaël Levinas - Quintet with two violas with Gérard Caussé
- Thierry Escaich - "Chorus" - with Florent Héau, Bertrand Chamayou.