QUATTROCELLI

The Quattrocelli ensemble is not only an instrumental quartet, it is a group of four cellists with a performance concept of their own. From an experimental perspective, they began to mingle the serious side of music with the lighter side and made a significant discovery -- the serious loses its solemnity and the light shines more brightly! Quattrocelli embraces this perspective in concert and on radio and television broadcasts across Europe. Each member of the ensemble studied at the same school in Aachen, Germany, and under the same teacher, Hans Christian Schweiker, thus assuring a uniformity of technique and tone and an effortless level of performance.

Their repertoire combines classical, pop, cabaret and folk material, weaving the elements seamlessly together through the players' virtuosity and their enjoyment of colorful sound combinations. At times humor prevails, and at other times an intense focus casts an almost hypnotic spell on the audience. But the core of the ensemble's performance is the music itself -- a celebration of sound sensuality, through which Quattrocelli shakes the paradigm of the traditional classical concert.

Seldom does one see the public, which was composed of all age groups, so delighted, so euphoric as at this concert…
-- Sűdwest Presse

A Swiss cellist from the unanimously delighted auditorium hit the nail on the head: ‘… Absolute genius, fresh and full of color, despite four of the same instruments.
-- Sűdkurier

ENSEMBLE BIO

This ensemble is not only an instrumental quartet, the name Quattrocelli stands above all for a specific concept, a perception of music and an understanding of performance all its own. The four cellists daringly set off on a stylistic cross-country, mingling the serious and the light. What happens if you do this? The serious loses its solemnity and the light shines! What weaves the classical, pop and folklore elements so closely and excitingly into a whole is the players’ virtuosity, their delight in the new, their enjoyment of sound and interest in colorful additions.

The four cellists Lukas Dreyer, Michael Peternek, Matthias Trück and Hartwig Christ come from the same school, having studied under Professor Hans-Christian Schweiker in Aachen. They are, of course, four very different individuals with different temperaments and stage presence. At times, hilarity prevails, but the core of the performance is the music itself and its convincing artistic interpretation. The focus is sound, and it casts an almost hypnotic spell on the audience.

Quattrocelli was founded in 1997, and in 1998 it was already on the list of the Friedrich-Jürgen-Sellheim Society. In 2003, Quattrocelli was invited to perform at the renowned Rheingau International Music Festival. A string of concerts in Germany and abroad, radio and television broadcasts and two CDs led to this distinction. The ensemble was a smash hit during its first 25-concert USA tour in 2004. Music critics remark with appreciation on the freedom with which the players approach their material -- there is no ‘first fiddle.’ Solo and virtuoso passages are evenly distributed.

From the merest breath to an uninhibited full-throated sound, this is a celebration of sound sensuality. And while we are never in doubt of the players’ impressive abilities, it is the light, up-beat mood that leaves the strongest impression. This is music-making quite outside the conventions of classical concert-giving.

Visit Quattrocelli’s website at: http://www.quattrocelli.de

MEMBERS BIOS

Lukas Dreyer was born in Döbeln in 1969. His family was his first source of musical influence and encouragement, and it was not until he was 11 years old that he received regular cello lessons. The most important of his teachers were Heinrich Hecker in Mainz, Prof. Daniel Graf in Frankfurt and Prof. Hans-Christian Schweiker in Aachen. A scholarship granted by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Institute) took him to Budapest to study under Prof. Sandor Devich. He was also the recipient of a "Villa Musica" Trust scholarship. As a member of the Frankfurt Orfeo Quartet, he was prize winner of the International Quartet competition at Bubenreuth. He has given numerous solo concerts and performed on radio and television. Arranging music for four celli has become a passion. Lukas Dreyer is solo cellist with the Altenburg-Gera Theatre Orchestra.

Hartwig Christ was born in Mannheim in 1972. By 1989, he had already begun a course of preparatory studies at the Mannheim Academy of Music, moving on to Frankfurt in 1992 to work under Prof. Gerhard Mantel. In 1994, he moved to Aachen to study under Prof. Schweiker and Prof. Hubert Buchberger (chamber music). He received his diploma with distinction. Hartwig Christ has won scholarships from "Villa Musica", the Karl Klingler Trust, and the Yehudi Menuhin-Live-Music-Now Trust. Repeatedly a prizewinner of Jugend musiziert, he also won the Kiwaki competition in Mannheim and the chamber music prize in Bad Homburg. In 1999, he became a member of the Hamburger Symphoniker and has played on various occasions with the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra. Today, Hartwig Christ is a member of the Niedersächsische Staatsoper in Hannover.

Michael Peternek was born in 1980 in Tettnang and studied at an early age with Prof. Reinhard Latzko in Basel, Switzerland and Prof. Gerhard Hamann in Trossingen. He currently studies with Prof. Brunhard Böhme in Weimar. He won numerous prizes as a soloist and chamber musician at the prestigious national competitions Jugend musiziert. Michael Peternek has been solo cellist in the German National Youth Orchestra (Bundesjugendorchester), and, since 2002, he has played with the Young German Philharmonics (Junge Deutsche Philharmonie), the Altenburg-Gera Theatre Orchestra and the German National Theatre Orchestra in Weimar. As a soloist, he has appeared with several orchestras, most recently the Marienbad Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for Dvorak's cello concerto. He regularly performs in a trio with pianist, Naoko Mizugaki and violinist, Robin-Peter Müller

Matthias Trück was born in Karlsruhe in 1973. At 13 years of age, he was the first prize winner of the Deutsche Tonkünstler competition and then become a member of the Baden-Württemberg Youth Orchestra. He also won prizes at the national level in Jugend musiziert. Numerous concert tours with the Stuttgart Youth Orchestra followed and, in 1994, he started his studies in Mannheim under Prof. Michael Flachsmann and continued from 1995 to 2000 under Prof. Schweiker in Aachen. He became a member of the Bonn Klassische Philharmonie and has substituted on occasion in the Rheinische Staatsphilharmonie Koblenz. He has been free-lancing since taking his diploma, working in radio and television in both pop and classical arenas with a variety of ensembles and bands, among others with André Rieu, Die Fantastischen Vier, and with Orangeblue at The Dome 16.

-- RaymondLutz - 15 Mar 2005