Tchaikovsky: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 3

The Heath Quartet makes its harmonia mundi début with this contrasting programme of Tchaikovsky's String Quartets: his Quartet No. 1 (famed for its plaintive "Andante cantabile") and the tempestuous No. 3 (dedicated to the memory of Ferdinand Laub).

Since being selected by YCAT and winning 1st Prize at the Tromp Competition in 2008 the Heath Quartet has forged a strong international presence. In 2011 they were awarded a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Special Ensemble Scholarship and undertook complete Beethoven cycles at the Facyl Festival in Salamanca and in Edinburgh. Highlights over the last year have included recitals at Wigmore Hall as part of the Emerging Talent scheme, including the premiere of a new work by Luke Bedford and collaborations with Stephen Hough and Ian Bostridge. Future engagements include complete Tippett and Bartók cycles, and a recital with the soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci at Wigmore Hall, debut recitals at the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay in Paris, return visits to the Concertgebouw and their USA debut.