Annegret Klenke – first violin
Beate Hartmann – second violin
Yvonne Uhlemann – viola
Ruth Kaltenhäuser – cello
The immediate response of the musical world to the Klenke Quartet’s recording of Mozart’s well-known string quartets was one of acclaim and superlatives. In the view of the music magazine, Rondo: „With their precise, controlled, and masterly grasp of the music, the four women of Weimar moved international critics to a storm of enthusiasm.“ „Historically informed! Beautifully poised!“ exclaimed Gramophone. Fono Forum in its Recommendation of the Month, declared them to be „scaling the musical heights“ and added: „These four string players have contributed a truly remarkable enrichment to a musical catalogue already well stocked with fine interpretations.“ The reviewer of Kulturspiegel commented: „Four players splendidly in harmony with each other, they bring, with their dynamic tempi, both the form and individual features of the works to consummate expression.“
The Klenke Quartet is honoured with Mozart Prize 2022. The Mozart Prize of the Sächsische Mozart-Gesellschaft e.V. is awarded annually for: outstanding interpretative achievements in the musical and/or scenic performance of works by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart.
2018 saw the release of a box with all 6 Mozart String Quintets. Harald Schoneweg (Cherubini Quartet)performs the 2nd viola part. The CD has been Disc of the Week at BBC 3 and Radio 4. The Dutch radio program Diskotabel gave the highest rates. The editor of the MDR, Martin Hoffmeister gave a verdict that, “...for me, this recording is the absolute reference.” In 2021, their last Mozart recording was released with the Horn and Clarinet quintets. Between the quintets, the quartet presents five fugues from the second volume of Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier", which Mozart arranged for string quartet. "Here, too, the polyphonic interweaving of the voices becomes crystal clear - and with heart and soul", wrote Fono Forum and gave the CD 5 stars.
In the seasons of 2021/22, the Klenke Quartet celebrated its 30-year anniversary with an unchanged cast. Annegret Klenke (1st violin), Beate Hartmann (2nd violin), Yvonne Uhlemann (viola) und Ruth Kaltenhäuser (violoncello) have established themselves internationally as one of the most significant German string quartets and are renown as “one of the most distinguished European formations” (Gewandhaus-Magazin). The four musicians are all graduates of the Franz Liszt College of Music in Weimar. Their distinctive characters were formed in working with Norbert Brainin (Amadeus Quartet), Ulrich Breetz (Abegg Trio), Harald Schoneweg (Cherubini Quartet), and Sándor Devich (Bártok Quartet).
Depth, vocality, and intimate musical play paired with a strong dramatic program and a tonal intensity down to the faintest notes are the basis of the characterization of the Klenke Quartet. Since their debut they have performed mostly at prestigious German musical events, such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival of Music, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Kissingen Sommer Festival and the Würzburg and Saxony Mozart festivals, as well as appearing in the Beethoven House in Bonn, and in the President’s Bellevue Palace, and many other venues. In addition, they have been on concert tours through the whole of Europe and North and South America.
