After Hours Fauré Quartett

• Jarkko Riihimäki (b. 1984): Tango Faurélle:
• 1 Riihimäki: Tango Faurélle 06:19
• Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962), Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904): Songs My Mother Taught Me (Arr. By Fauré Quartett):
• 2 Kreisler, Dvořák: Songs My Mother Taught Me (Arr. By Fauré Quartett) 02:56
• Alexandre Tansman (1897 - 1986): Suite Divertissement:
• 3 Tansman: Suite Divertissement: III. Scherzino 01:28
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Suite bergamasque:
• 4 Debussy: Suite bergamasque: No. 3, Clair De Lune (Arr. by Matthias Kaufmann) 04:22
• Jarkko Riihimäki: The Last 11 Years:
• 5 Riihimäki: The Last 11 Years: I. Dawn 05:42
• 6 Riihimäki: The Last 11 Years: II. Distancia 04:12
• 7 Riihimäki: The Last 11 Years: III. Cadenza 05:19
• 8 Riihimäki: The Last 11 Years: IV. Cliff 02:55
• 9 Riihimäki: The Last 11 Years: V. Finale 04:07
• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949): Ständchen, Av 168:
• 10 Strauss: Ständchen, Av 168 04:00
• Arabischer Tanz, Av 182:
• 11 Strauss: Arabischer Tanz, Av 182 01:30
• Eduardo Hubert. Faurétango:
• 12 Hubert: Faurétango 04:06
• Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950): Youkali (Arr. By: Jarkko Riihimäki):
• 13 Weill: Youkali (Arr. By: Jarkko Riihimäki) 05:19
• Vincent Youmans (1898 - 1946): Sometimes I'm Happy   (Arr. By Jarkko Riihimäki):
• 14 Youmans: Sometimes I'm Happy   (Arr. By Jarkko Riihimäki) 03:02
• Eduard Künneke (1885 - 1953): Glücklich Am Morgen (Arr. by Jarkko Riihimäki):
• 15 Künneke: Glücklich Am Morgen (Arr. by Jarkko Riihimäki) 03:04
• Total Runtime 58:21

Info for After Hours

Dessert as the main course – on „After Hour“ the Fauré Quartett presents a collection of very personal encores: Encores for a concert are like a dessert for a multi-course meal: there is always room, they are the crowning finale, the icing on the cake. The four musicians of the prestigious Fauré Quartett – Erika Geldsetzer (violin), Sascha Frömbling (viola), Konstantin Heidrich (cello) and Dirk Mommertz (piano) – are notorious for their entertaining and perfectly customised encores that go beyond the classical canon of piano quartet repertoire. Whether arrangement or original composition: on "After Hours", the Berlin based quartet brings together a variety of companions – musicians, arrangers and composers alike – to pay homage to the magical moment after the concert.

The quartet describes its love of encores like so: "The encore can be a counterpoint, fulfilment, relativisation; it can puzzle, amuse or insert an earworm into the minds of the departing audience for days to come. In fact, the encore is often what people remember as the stand-out highlight of the event."

During their time as artistic directors of the Festspielfrühling Rügen (2012-2017) in particular, the four musicians rethought and expanded their relationship to the encore. Breaking up classical concert programmes, jam sessions with colleagues and confronting the familiar with the spontaneous have been constant companions for the Fauré Quartet ever since. This is also reflected in the five-movement centrepiece of "After Hours", Jarkko Riihimäki's "The Last 11 Years", in which Matthias Schorn has taken on the clarinet part. Riihimäki, the Berlin-based Finnish universal artist and long-time friend of the ensemble, sees himself as a researcher, who is on the trail of the secrets of emotion and the human condition with the possibilities of music.

As the second guest, soprano Annette Dasch expands the spectrum of sound colours and styles with Weill's "Youkali", "Glücklich am Morgen" by Eduard Künneke and the song "Sometimes I'm happy" by Vincent Youmans.

Other musical companions include Alexandre Tansman and his "Symphonie Concertante for

Piano Quartet and Orchestra", which was premiered by the ensemble in 2008; his "Scherzino" comes from his "Suite Divertissement" as a tribute to the collaboration. The "Faurétango" was composed especially for the quartet two decades ago by Eduardo Hubert. Fritz Kreisler's Dvořák arrangement "Songs My Mother Taught Me" was reworked by the ensemble for the unique characteristics of the piano quartet instrumentation. Richard Strauss's "Ständchen" appears far less heavy with meaning than in many of his works and Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune" bridges the gap to the usual concert repertoire.

Annette Dasch, soprano
Matthias Schorn, clarinet
Fauré Quartett

Fauré Quartett
The requirements have changed. Whoever is playing chamber music today can’t be limited to the rules from decades ago. The expectations regarding the diversity of repertoire have changed, which creates room for ensembles like the Faure Quartett, which has established itself as one of the world’s leading piano quartets within just a few years. Dirk Mommertz (piano), Erika Geldsetzer (violin), Sascha Frömbling (viola) and Konstantin Heidrich (cello) use the opportunities arising from these developments. They discover new sound fields in chamber music and perform compositions outside the mainstream repertoire.

They are visionary in their approach and highly regarded for their experiments and discoveries; be it performances with the NDR Big Band, collaborations with artists like Rufus Wainwright or Sven Helbig, appearances in clubs like the Berghain, Cocoon Club or “Le Poisson Rouge” in New York or TV shows in KIKA or “Rhapsody in School”, getting children excited in chamber music. When they released their album “Popsongs” in 2009, there was a great deal of buzz in the press and audience. In the following year, the ensemble was awarded the ECHO Classic for their album “classic beyond borders”, their second award after their recording of Brahms’ piano quartets (Chamber Music recording of the year, 2008). Other prizes include the German Music Competition, the ensemble prize from Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, international competition and recording awards, Music Prize Duisburg and Brahms prize Schleswig Holstein.

The musicians of the Faure Quartett are pioneers in many ways. After they met during their studies in 1995 in Karlsruhe for the 150th anniversary of Gabriel Faure, they quickly realized, that this combination offered new insights into undiscovered repertoire. In 2006, they signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon, promoting them to the Champions League of the classic music business. They made highly regarded benchmark-recordings with works by Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn and pop songs from Peter Gabriel and Steely Dan.

Worldwide tours raise their profile abroad and international masterclasses are part of their work with students. The members teach at the universities of Berlin and Essen. Moreover, they are Artistic Directors of “Festspielfrühling Rügen” as well as ‘Quartet in Residence’ at the University of Music Karlsruhe. During their tours, the musicians appear in the world’s most important chamber music venues; including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Berlin Philharmony, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires and Wigmore Hall London. All these mosaics form a unique profile for this defining chamber music ensemble.

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