The Wihan Quartet brought their magnetic interpretations of Czech repertoire to the Lake District in a series of performances last week.

The quartet is widely regarded as one of the finest string quartets to emerge from the great Czech school of performance in recent years, and are leading exponents of the Czech domestic repertoire. Their extensive discography includes critically-acclaimed recordings of quartets by Smetana and Dvořák, as well as a landmark Beethoven cycle recorded in Prague.

Supported by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Manchester, this year’s Lake District Summer Music Festival presented the Wihan Quartet as part of a roster of leading Czech musicians. Their engagements as part of the festival began with a concert  of quartets by Janáček, Smetana and Dvořák, followed by a collaborative performance with Trio Bohémo and double bassist Marcelo Rodrigues featuring some of Dvořák’s most beloved chamber works. The quartet also offered a public masterclass with the Nadejda and Nasia String Quartets, the festival’s resident emerging artists, on works by Grieg and Haydn.

In the same week, the Wihan Quartet appeared at Muncaster Castle in the Lake District. The castle’s spectacular Drawing Room played host to the quartet’s performance of Suk’s Meditation on an Old Czech Hymn ‘St Wenceslas’, op. 35a, Smetana’s Quartet no. 1 in E minor, From My Life and Dvořák’s Quartet no. 10 in E flat major, op. 51, Slavonic.

The Wihan Quartet look forward to performing at the Ripon International Festival this evening, and will be in residence at the Music Summer School and Festival in Norfolk from 8th – 15th August. To learn more about the quartet’s programmes currently available for booking, please click here.

Photo of the Wihan Quartet performing in the Drawing Room at Muncaster Castle, credit Muncaster Castle and Carlos Reina Photography