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There is no obvious reason why the Silesian Quartet’s Weinberg cycle should have attracted less critical attention than the pioneering set from the Quatuor Danel on CPO or the ongoing survey by the Arcadia Quartet on Chandos. Certainly, the performances of all the Silesians’ releases that I have heard are uniformly excellent and musically insightful, as is also the case with this latest release...
...There’s powerful competition from the Arcadia Quartet in the Fifth, and from the eloquent Pacifica Quartet (on Cedille) in the Sixth. Nonetheless, the Silesians outshine their rivals in the daredevil breathless speed they adopt for the manic Scherzo in the Fifth, and achieve a greater sense of flow during the emotionally intense Adagio of the Sixth.
Erik Levi
...Their playing is gripping in the two seven-minute modernist works, nos.1 (1960) and 2 (1968), with all the composer’s experimental additions – percussive and vocal as well as string-based – welded seamlessly into the whole.
Matthew Rye
The Strad, November 2021
...The Second Quartet (...) may not be so abrasively confrontational as its predecessor, but the contrast with the later works in the Silesian Quartet’s survey is still almost shocking, whether that’s in the four movements of the Third, Blätter eines nicht geschrieben Tagebuches (Leaves from an Unwritten Diary), or the two movements of the Sixth, music that seems to evoke 19th-century models such as Schubert and Brahms as much as earlier 20th-century ones such as Bartók and Shostakovich.
It’s hugely to the credit of the Silesians that they seem just as assured in negotiating the clusters and glissandos of the early quartets as they are in refining the traditional textures and lyrical phrases of the later ones.
Andrew Clements
The Guardian, 02.09.2021
... The next day we witnessed a phenomenal chamber concert by the Silesian String Quartet. For many years, this ensemble has been regarded as one of the best string quartets, and what it presented on 7th November in Łódź could not fail to delight. For the ensemble’s performance is characterised by a wonderful homogeneity of sound and something that I would call a “collective imagination”, a unity of intention in all its elements. And what wonderful colour!... In their interpretation, the quartets of Tansmann, Bacewicz and Ravel turned into expressive and colourful images, lively and gripping from the first note to the last…
Witold Paprocki
Ruch Muzyczny 07.01.2001
... The Silesian artists showed their full Slavic temperament in the last piece of Sunday’s concert – Antonín Dvořák’s Quartet in G major, Op. 106. Through their immense expressivity, dynamism and bravura, they revealed to their listeners the true complexity of this composition.
Ewelina Wilczek
Gazeta Wyborcza 15.05.2001
... the Quartet’s performance was a great success; we admired the playing of the ensemble as a whole, and at the same time also the virtuosity of each of its members… Stunning interpretations, a high standard of professionalism – and with a strong emotional engagement and rich sound. A wonderful concert followed by a long ovation. Anna Rechlewicz – the “youngest” find of the ensemble – played with great virtuosity. …The ensemble as a whole played with a balanced, dynamic and sumptuous tone . Their skills embraced a full range of emotions – from the pastoral and dramatic right up to the elegiac. This was Art with a capital A. A magnificent ensemble of a high musical culture, a worthy exponent of contemporary chamber music, a true phenomenon on the Polish contemporary scene.
Zbigniew Landowski
...Mendelssohn’s work (Quartet Op. 80) is regarded as the best of his string quartets. When performed by the Silesian String Quartet, it takes one’s breath away. One could already sense the anxiety in the energetic first movement, fueled in the second movement by a dark timbre and a syncopated rhythm. The precise rendition of the irregular motifs perfectly emphasised the funereal tone of the Adagio, followed by a highly contrasting finale with a spectacular (bravo!) violin part… And then came a real treat in the form of a tranquil Adagio and a Polka – full of distinct humour and played with such vigour that… the ensemble’s bill fell off the wall…
Marek Skocza
Dziennik Zachodni 13.03.2001
… The Silesian String Quartet performed at the chamber hall of the Gorlice Cultural Centre with unusual expressivity. When they played Dmitri Shostakovich’s piece, a framed poster fell off the wall. … The musicians played with great commitment. And the precision of their performance was also impressive.
Ewelina Wilczek
Gazeta Wyborcza 13.03.2001
Great music: contrasts of outbursts and torpor, culminations of ear-splitting chords, an almost orchestral texture, satanic colours – from the Silesian String Quartet’s repository of performance magic.
Małgorzata Komorowska
Ruch Muzyczny 2.04.2000, ruchmuzyczny.pl
The highest level of performance. The play like devils.
NRC – Nandelsblad
The concert gave its Roman audience the chance to discover the craft of the Silesian String Quartet: this is an ensemble to remember, as it knows how to combine the perfect clarity of the works it presents with a warmth and fullness of sound.
Il Manifesto 21.07.1993
The Silesian String Quartet is a first-rate ensemble.
Corriere della sera 24.07.1993
… With the Silesian String Quartet, an impeccable technique and virtuosity of performance are interlaced with sensitivity and deep musicality.
Dziennik Zachodni 1993, dziennikzachodni.pl
The Silesian String Quartet today stands at the summit of Polish chamber music: technically perfect, with great maturity of interpretation, and boasting an impressively rich repertoire.
Adam Walaciński
Dziennik Polski Kraków 4.03.1992
The Silesian String Quartet – a thrill.
Antwerpse Courrant 1990
A perfect rendition and a fascinating concentration driven by deep conviction.
Tagespiegel 1989
… after five minutes I was certain that this was the best rendition of chamber music I had ever heard…
Tubantia 1989
The Silesian String Quartet – subtlety and exclusiveness.
Apeldoorn Courant 1989
The Silesian String Quartet was today’s revelation.
NRC – Handelsblad 1989
An unparalleled level of precision, sound and contrast.
La Dauphine 1988
The Quartet is indeed very good. They play with great commitment and intensity, so that they present every performed piece in the best light possible.
The Scotsman 11.1988
… Yesterday evening’s concert by the Silesian String Quartet was given unquestionably the best reception from the audience.
Glasgow 1988
Perhaps the first thing that the young instrumentalists have achieved is an impeccable professionalism and a sense of artistry and culture, over which predominate youthful sincerity, emotionality and human warmth. With a flexible, artistic, and magnetic spirituality, with an inner motivation moving from one style to another, from one form of sensitivity to another…
Margarita Władimirowa
Narodnoje Dieło Varna 1986
The Silesian String Quartet is one of the leading chamber ensembles in Poland. In its earliest years it honed its craft under the tutelage of members of such quartets as LaSalle, Amadeus, Juilliard, Smetana, and Alban Berg.
Members of the Silesian String Quartet:
Szymon Krzeszowiec 
Arkadiusz Kubica 
Łukasz Syrnicki 
Piotr Janosik
Today, the Silesian String Quartet enjoys international renown, performing on concert stages in the majority of European countries as well as in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and South Korea. It has appeared in such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus in Vienna, De Singel in Antwerp, Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Tivoli in Copenhagen, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Hoam Art Hall in Seoul, and Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The ensemble’s repertoire draws on the masterpieces of the chamber music canon, with a strong focus on the works of contemporary composers.
The chamber musicians of Silesia boast a very rich discography. They have recorded music from many eras, with special emphasis on Polish music from the last three decades. Their recordings can be found on over 50 albums released on such labels as Chandos, ECM, EMI Poland, Olympia, CD Accord, and Radio Katowice. Six of them have been singled out for Fryderyk Awards of the Polish Phonographic Industry in the category of Best Chamber Music Album. Since 1993, the ensemble had organised the International Chamber Music Festival Silesian String Quartet and Guests, which in its past 25 editions has welcomed several dozen outstanding artists from Poland and abroad.
The Silesian String Quartet has also been the recipient of numerous prizes and distinctions, among the most important of which are the Gold Cross of Merit (1999), the Orpheus Award for the best performance of a piece by a Polish composer during the Warsaw Autumn Festival (2002), the Honorary Gold Badge for Services to the Silesia Province (2005), and the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2008).
29 April 2024
We are pleased and proud to announce that the Eugeniusz Knapik – Chamber Works album has been awarded a Fryderyk prize in the Album of the Year Chamber Music - Large Ensembles category. ...
The Silesian String Quartet has been organising the International Chamber Music Festival Silesian String Quartet and Guests since 1993. The Festival has a unique format – the audience is treated to chamber pieces for string quartet and other instruments, and hence also to guest soloists, who perform together with the musicians of the Silesian String Quartet. Each year, the Festival also has a main theme.
