Quatuor Diotima
The Quartet "Diotima" was founded in 1996 by graduates of the Higher National Conservatory in Paris. Its current line-up includes Yun-Peng Zhao (first violin), Constance Ronzatti (second violin), Franck Chevalier (viola) and Pierre Morlet (cello).
The name of the ensemble refers to Friedrich Hölderlin's novel "Hyperion", in which the author sings of his beloved under the name of Diotima (an ancient priestess who spoke of "platonic" love); as well as to Luigi Nono's string quartet Fragmente-Stille, an Diotima ("Fragments-Silence, to Diotima"), acting as a kind of link between the past and the future, classics and the latest art.
The Diotima Quartet worked closely with the greatest composers of the late 20th century, primarily Pierre Boulez and Helmut Lachenmann. He regularly commissions new works from leading contemporary composers, including Toshio Hosokawa, Miroslav Srnka, Alberto Posadas, Mauro Lanza, Gerard Pesson, Rebecca Saunders and
Tristan Muray. In particular, in the 2020/21 season, with the participation of the quartet, the world premieres of works by Bruno Mantovani, Mauro Lanza, Sasha Blondeau, Celine Steiner, Naoko Ikeda took place. Reflected in the mirror of modern music, masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries also receive a new refraction in the interpretation of the ensemble.
The quartet's extensive discography includes all Bartok's quartets, works by the New Viennese (Webern, Schoenberg, Berg), Boulez's Book for Quartet. For the Naïve label, with which the quartet has been collaborating for more than ten years, a series of "musical portraits" of contemporary authors was recorded - Miroslav Srnka, Alberto Posadas, Gerard Pesson, Enno Poppe, Stefano Gervasoni, Rune Glerup, Tristan Muray, Rebecca Saunders. The ensemble's recordings have repeatedly received rave reviews in the press, titles and awards from the magazines Diapason, Classica, Télérama, Gramophone, The Strad and others.
Since 2008, Quatuor Diotima has been an "ensemble in residence" in the French region Center - Loire Valley. He initiated a series of quartet concerts in Orleans, in which young groups unite with venerable ones. In addition, in the Abbey of Nouarlac, members of the ensemble conduct master classes and classes for young composers and quartets from all over the world.
Quatuor Diotima tours in different countries, performing at such famous venues as the Dresden Philharmonic, the Barcelona Auditorium, the Louvre Auditorium, Wigmore Hall in London, the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Boulez Hall in Berlin, the University of Chicago; takes part in prestigious concert cycles and festivals (in Bregenz, Luberon, Lucerne, Paris, etc.). Performs regularly
and teaches at York University. Since 2018, he has been constantly collaborating with Radio France in Paris, presenting new music on the air with famous musicians such as Jörg Widman, Augustin Dumais, André Chouin.
In 2018, the Diotima Quartet was awarded the European Cultural Heritage Prize by the French Ministry of Culture. The Ensemble is a member of the Professional Union of Leading Independent Music Producers, Festivals, Ensembles and Broadcasters (Profedim) and is supported by the French Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (SACEM), the society for the protection of copyright holders ADAMI, the regional Ministry of Culture and other organizations.