Daniel Rowland, violin
Rafael Todes, violin
Dorothea Vogel, viola
Pál Banda, cello
The Allegri Quartet celebrated its 50th birthday in 2004 with an appearance at Wigmore Hall that received excellent reviews from the press. A year later, in January 2005, they welcomed Daniel Rowland as the quartet's new first violin, marking the start of a fresh phase in the life of this distinguished ensemble. Born in London but brought up in the Netherlands, Daniel made his concerto debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 1992, and has since returned to the Concertgebouw on numerous occasions. He is also regularly invited as the guest leader of leading orchestras such as the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, and Rotterdam Philharmonic, and recently led the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Zemlinsky's Die Seejungfrau that led The Guardian to praise his playing as “ravishing in its finesse”.
2005-06 will see the Allegri Quartet in concert across the UK, Turkey, Canada and the EU, performing works by composers that they have championed for decades (Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich) as well as exploring new and more unusual repertoire – ranging in style from the poignant romanticism of Puccini's Crisantemi to the terse atonality of Webern's Bagatelles. From 2007 onwards, they will perform the complete string quartets of Beethoven, programming them alongside contemporary works over four seasons. Also in 2007 – an anniversary for Elgar (1857-1934) – the Quartet will be joined by pianists Rian de Waal and Martin Roscoe for performances of Elgar's elegiac Piano Quintet, a work that they recorded and broadcast live with de Waal for Canadian Radio in 2002. The Allegris' released three new recordings in 2005: the Mozart Quintets in G Minor and C Major with ex-Allegri Violist Prunella Pacey, Peter Fribbins' Clarinet Quintet with James Campbell, and two works by Michael Stimpson: Robben Island (written to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela), and a piece for piano quintet and tenor based on As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. These recordings of new works reflect an ongoing commitment to contemporary music that has led the Quartet to première more than 60 works since 1964, including pieces by well-known composers such as Alexander Goehr, Jonathan Harvey, James Macmillan, Colin Matthews, Edmund Rubbra and John Woolrich.
The Quartet enjoys collaborating with other artists, and has worked with outstanding concert performers such as Jack Brymer, Clifford Curzon, Annie Fischer, Dame Thea King, John Ogden and Gervase de Peyer at international festivals that include Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Prague Spring, Berlin, Hong Kong, and Stavanger. In 2006-07 they will be joined by Canadian clarinettist James Campbell for quintets by Brahms, and Mozart, as well as by pianists Rian de Waal and Martin Roscoe.
The members of the Allegri Quartet are increasingly in demand for their teaching, and this year sees them beginning new residencies at Middlesex University and the University of East Anglia, bringing their total number of residencies at UK universities to seven (the other five being Bangor, Durham, Nottingham, Oxford, and Southampton, with whom the Quartet has enjoyed long-standing relationships thanks to the generous support of the Radcliffe Trust). The Quartet also has an interesting association with the Newark School of Violin Making, giving feedback to young luthiers on their work and performing on a selection of the finest instruments produced each year.