Music season 2024/25 – 44th concert season/6th  concert

Tomaž Petrač, piano

Robert Lakatoš, violin

Roberto Papi, viola

Andrej Petrač, cello

At the end of the 18th century, the piano quartet as an ensemble (piano, violin, viola, cello) was a novelty. It is not entirely clear whether or not the combination of these particular instruments was Mozart’s invention, but his Piano Quartet in G minor is certainly considered one of the first works in this form. Brahms, the master of counterpoint, was first and foremost an outstanding composer of chamber music and is considered to be the successor of Beethoven and Schubert in this genre. His Piano Quartet in G minor is an innovative work of enormous scope. Mahler, on the other hand, was in his own time more a renowned conductor than a composer. The Piano Quartet in A minor is an unfinished work, in fact only the first movement marked Nicht zu schnell (Not too fast) and the composer’s only surviving instrumental chamber work.

The above-mentioned compositions, together with Bojan Glavina’s Three Inventions for Piano Quintet, will be performed by pianist Tomaž Petrač, his brother, cellist and member of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrej Petrač, who has received several awards for his artistic work as a soloist and chamber musician, Robert Lakatoš, award-winning violinist and professor, who is considered “an ideal soloist with a beautiful tone”, and Robert Papi, violist and member of the Maribor Symphony Orchestra, who is also active as a chamber musician at numerous festivals in Europe and the USA.

The Piano Quartet first performed at the Ljubljana Festival in 2023 on the initiative of the cellist Andrej Petrač, where it proved its sophisticated harmony, with many nuances of dialogue within the individual instrumental connections, and the great experience and musical instinct of all four musicians playing a decisive role. The brilliant success, as well as the excellent reviews of the professional critics, encouraged the members of the quartet to continue playing together.

Programme:

A. Mozart: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K. 478

Mahler: Piano Quartet in A minor

Glavina: Three Inventions for piano quartet (2024)

J. Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25