Three decades after its founding in Tokyo in 1992, the Stuttgart-based
Lotus Quartet, is a phenomenon in several regards: as one of the few ensembles
on the international quartet scene with female players in all positions, it has
been playing over a particularly long period of time with a largely constant
lineup. The synthesis of cultural influences from Japan and Germany, characteristic
of the musical spirit of the Lotus Quartet, has been reinforced when Swantje
Tauscher, the first concertmaster of the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, joined
in 2022 as second violinist. Like her quartet partners, Tauscher received fundamental
artistic impulses working with Peter Buck of the Melos Quartet and Rainer Schmidt,
second violinist of the Hagen Quartet.
The quartets of Viennese Classicism and German Romanticism as well as the French
Impressionists form focal points of the Lotus Quartet's repertoire. In addition,
contemporary Japanese composers such as Töru Takemitsu and Toshio Hosokawa
play an important role, as well as works by Helmut Lachenmann and the Second
Viennese
School. The recording of selected quartets by Mozart and a production with contemporary
Japanese composers (Teldec, 1997 and 2000) as well as a CD with lesser-known
quartets by the Bohemian Johann Baptist Vanhal (cpo, 2014) received critical
acclaim. The outstanding press reviews were in stark contrast to the prejudice
about Asian musicians not understanding the intellectual universe of the European
repertoire, still widespread at the time.
As early as 1993, the Lotus Quartet won third prize at the renowned international
chamber music competition in Osaka. A scholarship enabled the four musicians
to participate in master classes of the Amadeus and Melos Quartets. From 1995
on, they studied with the Melos Quartet at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik
und Darstellende Künste in Stuttgart. Further achievements at international
competitions include the second prize at the Viotti Competition in Italy (1995),
followed by the Menuhin Prize at the London Quartet Competition 1996/97, the
third prize at the "Premio Paolo Borciani" and the first prize at the competition
of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI.
Within a short time, the Lotus Quartet established itself as a regular guest
at the prominent German chamber music series in Munich, Erfurt, Bruchsal, or
Braunschweig, as well as at summer festivals such as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Here the musicians worked
intensively with Walter Levin, former primarius of the LaSalle Quartet, in 1998.
The same period saw the beginning of the Lotus Quartet's international career,
with concerts in Valencia, Zurich, Tokyo, and Osaka, among others.
In addition to its regular engagements at major venues in Germany such as the
Konzerthaus Berlin, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf or the
Liederhalle in Stuttgart and important festivals, the Lotus Quartet has made
successful guest appearances in numerous European countries. The quartet regularly
tours its home country Japan performing in major music venues. Since 1998 the
four musicians return annually to Darmstadt, where they performed the complete
quartet works of Beethoven. In November 2004 they started their Schubert cycle,
and from 2008 the Lotus Quartet presented Mozart's ten late quartets and five
string quintets in a series of five concerts. In 2012, the ensemble celebrated
its 20th anniversary with a concert at Izumi Hall in Osaka, which was recorded
by Japan's NHK television. In 2017, the Lotus Quartet repeated their Beethoven
cycle in Japan, followed by performances of Beethoven's late quartets in several
Japanese cities in 2018.
Cyclical performances of the compositions by great composers such as Mozart,
Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Beethoven play a central role in the Lotus Quartet's
regular Japan tours. The ensemble's 30th-anniversary tour in February 2023 will
culminate in two evenings of performances of all six string quartets by Felix
Mendelssohn.
The Lotus Quartet's chamber music partners have included Wolfgang Boettcher,
Martin Fröst, Sebastian Manz, Peter Buck, Wolfgang Güttler, Philippe Tondre,
and Bernd Glemser.
November 2022
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