By Lynne Booker
Tavira || The Lacerda Quartet has played occasionally in the Algarve since 2006 when one of their greatest fans, sculptor Lucas van Blaaderen, invited them to play at his home near Santa Catarina.
Peter and I attended the quartet’s first concert in the Algarve and I realised why Lucas was so passionate about them. Subsequently, I booked them to appear at the Museu do Trajo (São Brás) where they were a resounding success.
I am pleased that they have agreed to return to the Algarve to play at Herdade da Corte (near Tavira) on Saturday, June 14 at 7pm.
The Lacerda String Quartet – Alexander Stewart (first violin), Regina Aires (second violin), Paul Wakabayashi (viola) and Luís André Ferreira (cello) – was founded in 1990 and is one of the leading string quartets of Portugal.
Besides the standard repertoire, with a special emphasis on Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, the Lacerda dedicates much of its attention to great and unjustly neglected masterpieces from the Portuguese repertoire.
Their first CD includes Viana da Mota’s String Quartet in G major (1895, first world recording), Freitas Branco’s String Quartet (1911, first world recording by a Portuguese string quartet) and Francisco de Lacerda’s Miniatures for String Trio (1917, also a world première recording).
A second CD entitled “Maelstrom”, with music by the internationally acclaimed Portuguese composer João Pedro Oliveira, includes Labirinto (2001) for string quartet and tape.
The Lacerda has premiered works by Moritz Eggert, Alan Ridout, Arnold Trowel, Frederico de Freitas, Eugénio Rodrigues, Eurico Carrapatoso and Alexandre Delgado.
They have performed in many of the major festivals and venues in Portugal, as well as in Spain, France, Italy and England.
The year 2008 saw the Lacerda “crossing borders” to participate in an innovative project with the ever-popular Portuguese light-music singer Jorge Palma in the Belém Cultural Centre in Lisbon.
The musicians also took part in the historic and unique project during 2009 to celebrate the bi-centenary of the death of Haydn, in which all 84 of Haydn´s string quartets were performed and recorded.
Tickets cost €20.
281 971 567 | [email protected] (bookings)
From left: Luís André Ferreira, Paul Wakabayashi, Regina Aires, Alexander Stewart
