Frank Martin; Viktor Ullmann; Gabriel Fauré - Chamber Works (Schumann Quartett; Hinrich Alpers)

Information

Composer: Frank Martin; Viktor Ullmann; Gabriel Fauré

• Martin - Piano Quintet "A ma Femme"
• Ullmann - String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46
• Fauré - Piano Quintet No. 1, Op. 89

Schumann Quartett

    Erik Schumann, violin

    Ken Schumann, violin

    Veit Hertenstein, viola

    Mark Schumann, cello

&

Hinrich Alpers, piano

Date: 2025

Label: Berlin Classics

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The Schumann Quartett and pianist Hinrich Alpers present a program uniting three contrasting composers—Frank Martin, Viktor Ullmann, and Gabriel Fauré—whose distinct life stories nonetheless reveal musical affinities. Martin’s Piano Quintet, Ullmann’s Third Piano Quintet (written in the Theresienstadt concentration camp), and Fauré’s Piano Quintet No. 3 trace an arc in the evolution of musical language from the late Romantic and early modern traditions into the innovations bridging the 20th and 21st centuries, offering a rich tapestry of stylistic contrasts and shared expressive depth.

Founded in Cologne in 2007, the Schumann Quartett features brothers Erik, Ken, and Mark Schumann with violist Veit Hertenstein. Trained by the Alban Berg Quartet and Günter Pichler, they also studied with Harald Schoneweg and Eberhard Feltz. Prizewinners in major competitions including Osaka (2011), Graz (2012), and Bordeaux (2013), they received the Jürgen Ponto Foundation’s music prize in 2014. Since 2009/10, they have been Artists in Residence at Düsseldorf’s Robert Schumann Hall. Regularly performing in top venues like Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and London’s Wigmore Hall, they tour internationally and collaborate with renowned artists such as Menahem Pressler, Sabine Meyer, and Nicolas Altstaedt.

German pianist Hinrich Alpers (b. 1981) is acclaimed for his maturity, versatility, and sincere artistry, winning 1st Prize at the 3rd International Telekom Beethoven Competition and a laureate title at Canada’s Honens International Piano Competition. A former student of Bernd Goetzke and Jerome Lowenthal at Juilliard, he became Professor at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden in 2021. Alpers has performed worldwide in major venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Philharmonie Berlin, with a repertoire ranging from Beethoven, Schumann, and Ravel to the Second Viennese School and John Cage. He is also Artistic Advisor to the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.

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