PH concert Series: From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields

Ensemble Émeraude:

Aleš Ulrich – Violin

Urszula Padała-Sperber – Violin

Nina Poskin – Viola

Jean-Pierre Borboux – Violoncello

Programme:

Jan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda: Trois duos faciles et brillants, Op. 243/2 - IV. Allegro Moderato

Antonín Dvořák: Terzetto in C major for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74 - II. Larghetto

Bohuslav Martinů: Etudes faciles à deux violons - 8. Poco andante

Erwin Schulhof: String Quartet No. 1 - III. Allegro giocoso alla slovacca

Bedřich Smetana: String Quartet No. 1, “From My Life”

Aleš Ulrich Born in Šternberk (Czech Republic) to musician parents, Aleš Ulrich studied at the Pardubice Conservatory (with Dalibor Hlava), at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (with Katy Sebestyen) and at the Academy of Musical Arts in Prague (with Ivan Štraus). Winner of the Vieuxtemps Competition (Verviers, 1998) and the Beethoven Competition (Czech Republic, violin and string quartet, 2002 and 2003), he also took lessons with Thomas Riebl, Ervin Schiffer, Valentin Erben, Thomas Kakuska, Milan Škampa, Petr Messiereur, Walter Levin, Ivan Moravec, David Harrington… As a chamber musician, he has performed in Europe, the United States and South Korea. He has made several recordings for Czech, Belgian and Dutch radio.

Ensemble Émeraude It was in Liège in 2019 that two violinists Urszula Padala-Sperber and Aleš Ulrich, both musicians of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège, discovered their common passion for chamber music. Drawing on their experience in this field, they decided to create the Duo Émeraude and discover all the possibilities and riches of this small formation. In 2023, they came together with other friends and colleagues for a new project around Czech music. This is how the Ensemble Émeraude was born: an ensemble with variable geometry, extending from the initial two-violin duo to the string quartet or piano quintet. It thus allows the exploration of a broader repertoire and often lesser-known works, written for less traditional formations such as the string trio, the trio for two violins and piano etc. The goal of these accomplished musicians is to offer a vast palette of works sometimes neglected today, to get off the beaten track and seek out the original meaning of the practice of chamber music - by showing it in variety of its formations and in all its nuances and finesse.