Programme:
Igor Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet
Eduard Dřízga: Partita for two violins, viola and violoncello
Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No.7 in F Sharp Minor, Op.108
Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 51, “Slavonic”

Cast:
Benda Quartet
Jakub Černohorský – the first violin
Petr Grabovský – the second violin
Petr Benda – viola
Tomáš Svozil – violoncello

This concert by the Ostrava Benda Quartet, which was announced last year, will be accompanied by a varied selection of the classic quartet repertoire. Dvořák’s Slavonic Quartet is in the shadow of the two late masterpieces, particularly the American Quartet, yet thanks to its typical thrilling melody it is a favourite concert piece. Shostakovich wrote one more quartet than Dvořák (15 in total), yet his quartets are overshadowed by his much more famous symphonies. However, his quartets are not inferior: just the opposite, in fact. While in the symphonies we see the composer’s public face, the quartets unravel his hidden, private, true one. Stravinsky always preferred freedom over domesticity, and his style is less elaborate than Shostakovich’s, although his 3 pieces for string quartet were created a year after The Rite of Spring.