Talich Quartet

For several decades, the Talich Quartet has been internationally recognized as one of the finest string quartets and a embodiment of the great Czech musical tradition. The quartet was formed in 1964 by Jan Talich Sr. while studying at the Prague Conservatory. He named his quartet in honor of his uncle, Václav Talich, a renowned conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from 1919 to 1939.

During the 1990s, the members of the quartet gradually changed, rejuvenating the ensemble while continuing the tradition of their predecessors. Jan Talich Jr., the current first violinist, is the son of the quartet's founder.

Present on prestigious musical stages, the Talich Quartet is regularly invited to numerous festivals and concert series. The ensemble often performs at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, among others.

The discography of the Talich Quartet is impressive. In its current formation, the quartet has made a lasting impact by recording the majority of the repertoire of Smetana, Dvořák, and Janáček. Their recording featuring Janáček's two string quartets was named "Best Chamber Music Recording" at the 2006 Gramophone Awards. In 2022, the Quartet paid a beautiful tribute to Antonín Dvořák by bringing together on the same album the "American Quartet," the rarely performed Quartet Movement in F Major, and the 8 Waltzes Op. 54. Dvořák originally composed these waltzes for piano, but he himself transcribed two of them for strings. The Talich Quartet now offers a refreshing interpretation of these complete works, arranged for string quartet by the eminent composer Jiří Kabát, and recorded for the first time.