Congratulations to the ORAVA QUARTET who have earned a 2024 ARIA award nomination for ‘Best Classical Album’ with their latest disc for UMA/Deutsche Grammophon, ORAWA.
Reaching the top 20 Albums of 2023 in the ARIA Core Classical Charts, this second album by the Brisbane-based string quartet was a heartfelt dedication to the group’s inspirational first mentor, the late cellist Uzi Wiesel, who spent the last quarter of his life in Australia at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where the Orava Quartet first formed in 2007.
The ARIA Award finals will be announced on Wednesday 20 November, 2024 at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney. Read more about it here.
Continuing to earn rave reviews for their live performances this year, on 30 August the Orava Quartet gave a critically acclaimed and enthusiastically received world premiere of renowned Australian composer, Paul Dean‘s String Quartet no.2.
Premiered at the Melbourne Recital Centre, and performed as part of the Quartet’s 10th Anniversary celebration as ‘Quartet-in-Residence’ with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra (based in Brisbane) with concerts at the State Library of QLD and Empire Theatres in Toowoomba, praise for the Oravas’ performance include:
“Probably the closest thing Australian chamber music has to a boy band is the Brisbane-based Orava Quartet. Sporting their trademark colourful socks, violinists Daniel Kowalik and David Dalseno, violist Thomas Chawner and cellist Karol Kowalik continued their convincing advocacy of new Australian music by giving the world premiere of Paul Dean’s String Quartet No. 2. … Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short poem A Dream Within A Dream, the work is cast in three movements. The first, labelled “fast, murky and troubled” opened with chimerical high strings pierced by shards of sound before projecting more cohesive yet turbulent textures. …
Seemingly ablaze with bright Mediterranean sunlight, Claude Debussy’s deservedly popular String Quartet in G minor proved the perfect contrast to the shadowy realm of dreams. Apart from the luxuriously languorous third movement, the work thrummed with bustling energy. Gathering pace and driving towards its knife-edge finish, the finale became a visceral musical force that could only be generated by an ensemble that had developed a deep inner rapport.
A laid-back arrangement of a Danish folk melody sent the fans of this boy band home happy and satisfied.” [4 STARS]
– The Age, August 2024
and
“…a gothic fantasy world. From eerie moments to heart-wrenching beauty, [the Dean string quartet] was totally enthralling. … We then returned to folk music, with the Australian Premiere of Slawomir Czarnecki’s Quartet No 2. This piece captured Orava’s Polish roots, with lush, swelling strings evoking the serene beauty of the Tatra mountains and surrounding landscapes.”
– ClassikOn, September 2024 (“Orava marks a ten-year milestone with a stunning, fun performance”)
Have a listen to ORAWA on all streaming platforms, here: https://uma.lnk.to/OrawaKilar
Keep up to date with the Orava Quartet’s news at facebook.com/OravaQuartetOfficial