The Bennewitz Quartet was founded in 1998 and are one of the top international chamber ensembles, a status confirmed not only by their victories in two prestigious competitions – Osaka in 2005 and Prémio Paolo Borciani, Italy in 2008, but also by the acclaim of the critics. As early as 2006, the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: "... the music was remarkable not just for its clarity of structure, but for the beautiful tonal palette and purity of intonation in its execution. Only very rarely does one experience such skilfully crafted and powerful harmonies... Great art."
The quartet currently perform at major venues both in the Czech Republic and abroad including Wigmore Hall, Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Berlin and The Frick Collection New York, and are regularly invited to festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele, Luzerne Festival and the Prague Spring.
The Bennewitz Quartet especially enjoy playing and performing on the Czech domestic music scene. Particular highlights have included performances with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Jirí Belohlávek.
Their recording of Leoš Janácek’s two string quartets and Béla Bartók’s fourth have received critical acclaim. The magazine Fono Forum was impressed by the "fiery temperament". The second recording in the series contains both of Bedrich Smetana’s quartets and the website Klassik.com called it "simply phenomenal". Their next project was a recording of Dvorák’s complete Cypresses cycle, on the Hänssler Classic label.
In the forthcoming 2014/2015 season, the quartet will have the privilege of working with the outstanding artists Alexander Melnikov, Vadim Gluzman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Isabelle Charisius, Pietro de Maria. They expect to release their new CD with quartets O 51 and Op 106 by Antonín Dvorák on the Hänssler Classic label. They will also perform, with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Czech premiere of the composition ‘Absolute Jest’ by John Adams.
“The players fired up the Scherzo and Finale [of Schubert’s Quintet with cellist Danjulo Ishizaka] with the humour and vitality of a young ensemble at the height of its power”. Suddeutsche Zeitung.