Maximilian MangoldGuitar • Lute • Historical Guitar

Ensembles with:

Flute Harp Travers Flute Tenor Trio Patetico String Quartet

Vlach Quartett Prag and Maximilian Mangold

Prag Vlach Quartet (Jana Vlachová, Violin – Karel Stadtherr, Violin – Vladimír Bukač, Viola and Mikael Ericsson, Violoncello). The quartet was created in 1982. In 1985 it gained an important success as a prize-winner of the international string quartet contest in Portsmouth in England. In 1988 it was invited by the Hindemith Corporation to the international master courses of the famous Melos quartet in Switzerland. A quotation from the appreciation of the Melos quartet: „Jana Vlachová radiates as a Primarius of the ensemble a special charisma which ties up not only the listener, but also guarantees absolute homogeneity in the ensemble and leads about the virtuoso playing of middle voices up to great supplement by the cellist Mikael Ericsson“. During its career the quartet gained a large number of prices:

  • In 1991 price of the Czech chamber music association
  • In 1992 price of the Czech music funds of the CD with recordings of Smetana and Janácek
  • In 1995 the quartet gets a contract from the record company NAXOS for the complete chamber music work of Dvorák on 15 CDs
  • In 1997 Japan debut – the concert was transferred by the television broadcast station NHK
  • In 1997 residence ensemble of the Salamanca-Hall in Japanese Gifu
  • In 2000 price of the „German record criticism“ for the CD of the „Esquisses Hébraiques“ with the clarinettist Dieter Klöcker

The current Discographie counts 30 CDs and every year three to four new ones are being published. The Vlach quartet gives concerts not only in whole Europe (most frequently in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Spain), but also in the USA, in Japan and New Zealand. It appeared in a large number of wellknown festivals, as for example Schleswig – Holstein music festival, Scharwenka festival Lübeck, Sandwiken (Sweden), Santorini (Greece), Auckland (New Zealand), Wiltz (Luxembourg), Tivoli (Copenhagen). It also played in important series of concerts of celebrated concert halls in Prague, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, Stuttgart and others. Its concerts were transferred frequently by broadcasting stations: from the Bavarian radio broadcasting, Swedish radio broadcasting, Danish radio broadcasting, Radio France, Czech radio broadcasting. Celebrated artists help in the interpretation of quintets and other chamber music works. To them belong, e.g.: E. Brunner, D. Klöcker, E. Trenkner, J. Jando, I. Klánsk ý. J. Simon the Janácek quartet among others.

Programs
Italian Serenades
Works by Boccherini, Puccini, Wolf and Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Soirée Espagnole
Works by Arriaga, Torroba, Turina, Rodrigo and Boccherini
Latino-American Chamber Music
Works by Brouwer, Pujol, Piazzolla and Villa-Lobos
Press Reviews
Nordfriesische Nachrichten
„Soirée espagnole“ was the motto of the wellknown Prague Vlach quartet and the guitarist Maximilian Mangold with the 121st concert of the music society in Leck. More than 100 guests appeared enthusiastic about the spirited Spanish evening. At the beginning a pearl of the string quartet art rang out: Juan Crisostomo de Arriagas of endless melodies consisting string quartet No 1 D minor. This early developed, but already at the age of 20 (1826) dead Spanish violinist and composer, left with this work one on Mendelssohn and Schubert reminding masterpiece which was played by the Vlach quartet full of tension, full of swing and particularly convincing. The melancholy inherent to this quartet was thereby expressed completely. Precise rhythmics and the warm sound volume of the ensemble rounded this dynamic and fresh interpretation. Frederico Moreno Torrobas „Puertas de Madrid“ is a cycle of seven programatic pieces for the solo guitar. Separate city gates of Madrid are represented here mediterranean elegant and tonal impressively. Maximilian Mangold possesses the ability, with his extremely sensitive and technically immaculate playing enchanted the listeners: Mangolds guitar playing is the most intimate concentration and virtuoso perfection. After the break „The prayer of the bullfighter“ from Joaquin Turina rang out brimful with Spanish national coloring, during Luigi Boccherini Quintett (under contribution of Maximilian Mangold) „La Ritirata di Madrid“ a true treat for the ears almost for the purposes of a popular song was. This enormously rhythmic and constantly increasing music is a row of variations which fascinated particularly by their presented musical charm. A unique final effect achieved the ensemble with Boccherinis to carrying away „Fandango“. Both first sentences of this quintet played the Vlach quartet with Maximilian Mangold such tension-coming floating that the Fandango could unfold his its whole dance-like force in the third sentence of this quintet: fascinating string player ensemble playing deduces with elementary joy of playing together, first of all naturally when Mikael Ericsson allows to resound shortly the castanets.
Fränkische Nachrichten
The brilliant musicians captivated their audience immediately. You could almost have heard a pin fall. The classical fans listened so concentrated to the virtuoso ability, the passionate expressiveness as well as the unsurpassable sound harmony. And so after the "Fandango Quintet" Spain was palpable, audible and almost within reach. The enthusiastic applause of the audience underlined this statement at the end of this musical treat.