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Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, "Borodin String Quartet" will be staged on April 13 (Sunday) at 8pm at the Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall. Established over 50 years, existing members of Borodin String Quartet include Ruben Aharonian and Audrei Abramenkov (Violin), Igor Naidin (Viola) and Valentin Berlinsky (Cello). Ludmila Berlinskaia will be the guest pianist in the concert.
Programme includes String Quartet in A, Op. 41, No. 3 by Schumann; String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat, D. 87 by Schubert and Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 by Brahms.
One of today's major quartets, the Borodin String Quartet was formed in 1945 by students from the Moscow Conservatoire, changing its name from the Moscow Philharmonic Quartet to the Borodin String Quartet in 1955. Cellist Valentin Berlinsky has been with the Quartet since its earliest days and violinist Andrei Abramenkov joined over 25 years ago. Igor Naidin learnt the art of quartet playing from the Quartet's violist, Dmitri Shebalin, whom he eventually replaced. Ruben Aharonian has won prizes at several international competitions, including the Enescu, Montreal and Tchaikovsky Competitions.
The Borodin String Quartet's particular affinity with Russian repertoire was stimulated by their early close relationship with Shostakovich, who personally supervised their study of each of his quartets. Widely regarded as definitive interpretations, the Quartet has performed the cycle in many major centres including Vienna, Zurich, Madrid, Lisbon, London, Paris, Seville and New York.
January 2000 saw Valentin Berlinsky's 75th birthday and the 55th anniversary of the Borodin String Quartet, marked by celebratory concerts in Moscow and at London's Wigmore Hall. 2001 also saw the continuation of a creative partnership between the Quartet, Christoph Eschenbach and the NDR Symphony Orchestra, which juxtaposed the string quartets and major orchestral works of Beethoven and Shostakovich.
This season the Quartet return to a broader repertoire including works by Schubert, Prokofiev, Borodin and Tchaikovsky. They will give recitals in North America, Europe, Russia and the Far East. They will also perform at the Salzburg Festival and venues including London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle, Vienna Konzerthaus and Auditorio Nacional in Madrid.
Born in Moscow, the guest pianist Ludmila Berlinskaia studied at the Moscow Conservatoire with Professor Vaskressenskyi. She has won several prizes and her endeavour in piano is well recognized. Berlinskaia has worked with numerous artists and ensembles including Sviatoslav Richter, Yuri Bashmet, Paul Meyer, the Fine Arts Quartet and the Quartet of St Petersburg. She has also played at many major European festivals and performed in concerts around the world.
Tickets priced at $200, $140 and $80 are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-priced concessions will be granted to senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. (Limited tickets for students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients available on a first-come-first-served basis). A 10% discount is also available for Friends of LCSD performing venues.
In addition, members of the public are welcome to hire the Box Seats and Lounge Packages for private gathering. Interested parties could check the details at 2268 7237.
Programme enquiries can be made on 2268 7321 while ticketing enquiries and reservations on 2734 9009. Internet booking of tickets is available at www.urbtix.gov.hk. For credit card telephone booking, please call 2111 5999. Please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp for more information on the programme.
End/Thursday, March 6, 2003
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