Hagen Quartet

After concerts by the “four world-class string players from Salzburg” (Hamburger Abendblatt), there is “absolute silence for almost minutes, [the
audience] conscious of having experienced something extraordinary.” This is how the press describes it. All the listeners have one wish in common: “may it never end.”

During the 2024–25 season, the Hagen Quartet is concentrating on string quartets by Haydn, Schumann, Janáček, and Brahms. (Quintets by Mozart and Brahms with clarinetists Sabine Meyer and Jörg Widmann as well as Schubert with cellists Julia Hagen and Gautier Capuçon are also planned.) In addition to the current US tour, the season will also see performances in France, Norway, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and England. These touring activities will include performances at the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

The Hagen Quartet’s unparalleled career, which has already spanned four decades, began in 1981. The first years were marked by competition successes and an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. During the decades of collaboration, numerous recordings were made to explore the vast quartet repertoire, from which the group’s unmistakable profile developed. Subsequent recordings on the Myrios Classics label have also received international critical acclaim and major awards. A recording together with Jörg Widmann and clarinet quintets by Widmann and Mozart has recently been released. The ensemble has been an honorary member of the Konzerthaus Wien since 2012 and received the Concertgebouw Amsterdam Prize in 2019 for its many years of artistic contribution.

The Hagen Quartet will be retiring after the 2025–26 season, which marks the group’s 45th anniversary. The current February 2025 tour includes the Hagen Quartet’s final performances on the West Coast.

The quartet’s repertoire consists of intelligently curated programs spanning the entire history of the string quartet literature. In addition, the Hagen Quartet is dedicated to premiering works by composers of its generation. Collaborations with artists such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and György Kurtág has been just as important to the members as joint concert performances with Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, Heinrich Schiff, Jörg Widmann, Kirill Gerstein, Sol Gabetta, and Gautier Capucon.

For many young string players, the quartet is a role model in terms of sound quality, stylistic diversity, interplay, and serious engagement with the works and composers of their genre. As teachers and mentors at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Hochschule Basel, and at international master classes, the musicians pass on this wealth of experience to their younger colleagues.

Representation
MKI Artists
70 S Winooski Avenue #318
Burlington, VT 05401