The Players

the Schubert Ensemble of London

[Photo Archive]

The Ensemble

The Schubert Ensemble has established itself over 29 years as one of the world’s leading exponents of music for piano and strings. Regularly giving over 50 concerts a year, the Ensemble has performed in over 40 different countries. In 1998 the Ensemble’s contribution to British musical life was recognized by the Royal Philharmonic Society when it presented the group with the Best Chamber Ensemble Award, for which it was shortlisted again in 2010.

In the last eighteen months the Ensemble has enjoyed a busy international schedule, with performances in the Czech Repulic, Norway, Gibraltar, Spain, Holland, Canada, the USA and most recently, a first visit to China, as well as appearances across the UK.  In this period the Ensemble has also released two new recordings for the Chandos label of works by Martinů and Fauré, both of which have been widely praised.  It has curated two festivals at London's King's Place, Finding Fauré in 2009 and Saint-Saens's Paris in 2010, part of which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 later in the year.  It was also invited by Leeds City Council to programme its 2010/2011 International Chamber Series, for which it devised a Viennese season with the title Transfigured Night.    The Ensemble has recently returned from the United Arab Emirates where it gave concerts in Sharjah and Dubai.  Forthcoming tours include the Bermuda Festival and return visits to the USA and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.

Alongside its busy concert schedule, the Ensemble has established a reputation for innovation in the field of new music, education and audience development.  This year will see the Ensemble continue its Residency at the Birmingham Conservatoire as well as giving workshops and masterclasses around the country.  The Ensemble has built up strong relationships with many of the UK's leading composers, and has an impressive list of over 80 commissions.  In june 2009 the Ensemble gave the world premiere of a piano quintet by Jonathan Dove at the Spitalfields Festival, and last year saw the premiere of a new piano quartet by Joe Cutler at the Cheltenham Festival in July, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.  In May this year, it gave the world premiere of Pavel Novák's Unisono (Homage to the Bach Family) for piano quintet at the Newbury Festival, and in July it performed Brett Dean's Voices of Angels at the City of London Festival.  In 2012, it will give the world premiere of a piano quartet by Huw Watkins at the Spitalfields Festival.

 

 

 In the recording studio the Ensemble has produced over 30 critically acclaimed CDs of works by Schubert, Schumann, Hummel, Dohnányi, Judith Weir, John Woolrich, Fauré, Korngold, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Louise Farrenc, César Franck, Elgar, Martin Butler, Piers Hellawell, Vaughan Williams, Martinů and most recently Enescu on the Chandos label.  In November it will record Dvořák’s Piano Quintet and Second Piano Quartet, also for Chandos.   It has appeared on TV and radio in many countries and is familiar to British audiences through regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.

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To say they play with seasoned eloquence, a unanimity of feeling born of deep communal consideration, is an understatement, for they demand superlatives.

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Sunday Times February 2011
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As good as were the Schubert Ensemble’s previous Enescu readings, this account of the Piano Quintet was something else again; indeed, the piece can seldom, if ever, have received such a fine performance.

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Classical Source March 2011
"At the end, where the music rises to an orchestral exuberance, the performers swept us along irresistibly with that same combination of reckless abandon and perfect control"
The Telegraph 2003
"..an account that combined passion, refinement and, in the slow movement, sheer desolation with impeccable control."
The Independent on Sunday 2003
"...The Schubert Ensemble of London are a marvellously unified ensemble, imparting their energy and lyricism to anything to which they turn their expert hands..."
Classic FM Magazine
"…The performances by The Schubert Ensemble are exactly what the music requires – they fizzle with energy and pep."
Fanfare, USA
" A solitary movement for string trio, dating from Schubert's teenage years, was a delightful curtain-raiser to the Trout Quintet, whose sparkling, clean textures were at times truly spine-tingling in their immediacy. The balance, clarity and tone were perfectly realised, both by performers and by this remarkable new hall  (Kings Place, London): outstanding in every respect."
The Guardian 2008
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The Piano Quintet is given a reading of fierce energy, the first movement magisterial in its lengthy unfolding and a Scherzo having incredible force…This is a performance which fairly crackles with passion

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International Record Review
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A relaxed assurance, a purity of line and a manifest affectin for the pieces to hand. The Fauré (piano quartet No. 1) was ravishing in its effortlss singing lines and interplay of details, partiularly in the Mendelssohnian scherzo.

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Yorkshire Post 2010
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“…..they gave a performance so forthright and passionate that at times it sounded as if a chamber orchestra were playing.   A hugely impressive concert

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Strad Magazine 2006