“It’s unbelievable”: Pavel Haas Quartet wins latest Gramophone prize with Martinů: String Quartets

Last week the Pavel Haas Quartet picked up a prestigious Gramophone award for the album Martinů: String Quartets Nos 2, 3, 5, 7. It is by no means the first Gramophone prize for the Prague-based classical ensemble, who BBC Music Magazine named one of the 10 greatest string quartets of all time. I discussed their latest success with cellist Peter Jarůšek.

“A few years back we decided to play Martinů’s quartets. They are not very well-known, not very often played, and mainly by Czech ensembles.

“It was in 2014, I think, when we first started to practice and play concerts featuring Martinů’s No. 3. We started with something which is… not easier, because all of them are extremely difficult, but with a shorter one.

“From then we played all four of them, and the result was to do this album.

“And it’s such a fantastic award. We didn’t expect that.

“It was never our ambition to win awards, but if, among the tsunami of recordings every year, they choose this one, it’s really satisfying.”

It’s your sixth Gramophone award, right? What does it mean for the ensemble in practical terms to win such a prestigious prize as this?

“Practically, it’s prestigious. And I don’t think I know of any other ensemble who has won six of them.

“So of course your profile is higher, and people recognise you as one of the most important ensembles.

“But we’ve already recorded 10 albums, and six of them won the Gramophone, which is unbelievable.

“On the other hand we enjoyed that evening, we had a really beautiful time there, but the next day you’re again on the same plane back to Prague.

“And then next day after that you have a rehearsal, and you see that you have to work again.

“So it’s about working very hard.”

Pavel Haas Quartet|Photo: Dvořákova Praha

In 2021 BBC Music Magazine named you as one of the 10 greatest string quartets of all time. You’re playing a couple of shows next week in the UK. Is that a particularly important “market” for you?

“It is. Since we started our career we’ve had the chance to play at the famous Wigmore Hall in London, for example.

“We have a very strong relationship to that venue, which is amazing.

“We were part of the BBC’s New Generation Artists scheme, so from the very beginning we had the chance to play in the UK, and we’re still there.

“So of course this is one of the most important territories for us.”

What’s next for the Pavel Haas Quartet?

“Concerts, of course.

“But I guess your question was about the next album. We are going to the studio this December and we will record two great works by Antonín Dvořák: his Opus 61 in C major and Opus 105 in A flat major.

“And I think the release date of this album will be in May ’27.”