Asasello Quartett - Paysages (2013)

Asasello Quartet was founded in 2000 in Basel, where its members were studying at the time. The four musicians - Rostislav Kozhevnikov, Barbara Kuster, Justyna Sliwa and Wolfgang Zamastil aim for more than merely entertaining their audience with their conclusive programs, always ranging from classic, romantic pieces to the modern repertoire: They wish to inspire a more profound contemplation of music. "The Asasello Quartett has just existed for ten years, but his young musicians demonstrate a surprising maturity and a total commitment to the music they perform, whether it is Beethoven or composers of our time" (L'Est Républicain, 24. September 2010).

Having concluded their studies in Basel with a major in chamber music, the Quartet relocated to Cologne in August 2003 and continued to study with the renowned Alban Berg Quartet. After the diploma for chamber music and contemporary music in Cologne, the musicians continued their musical education with Christophe Desjardins, Paris, and Chaim Taub, Tel Aviv.

Winning the first prize of the Migros Kulturporzent competition 2003 in Zurich was the starting point for further international concerts. Their appearance at the 2007 MusikTriennale festival in Cologne was followed by their debut in London's Wigmore Hall in November 2007. In summer 2008, the Quartet took on artistic directorship of "Musiktage Fafleralp" in the Swiss Lötschental valley, which successfully took place again there in summer 2010. Its tours have since taken the Quartet to France, Hungary, Russia, the Netherlands, Algeria, Italy, Poland, Finland and England. 2009 the Asasello Quartet was among the winners of the first International Chamber Music Competition in Hamburg (ICMC) 2010 the quartet was presented with the price "Group of the Year" by the Association of German Concert Directorates.

In Cologne ASASELLO has started its own series of concerts "1:1, schon gehört?", so called "xs" concerts, where the musicians play just two pieces, a confrontation of contemporary and classical romantic repertoire. The idea which attracts also a younger public is supported by the "Kulturamt der Stadt Köln" and the "RheinEnergie Stiftung".

With the major project "4 PAYSAGES - 4 LANDSCHAFTEN" supported by the foundations "Kunststiftung NRW", "Kulturstiftung Pro Helvetia" and "Stiftung PIROLO" the quartet made a three weeks tour through Siberia. In 2010 the Asasello Quartett was invited with the PAYSAGES-program to the Gorczycki festival in Poland.

The musicians' personal contact with composers like Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Thomas Adès, Christoph Staude, Matthias Pintscher, Sergej Newski, Aleksandra Gryka, Kaija Saariaho, Toshio Hosakawa, Elzbieta Sikora, and others, has left a distinctive mark on them; it is a pronounced goal for them to dispel the reservations many concertgoers have towards contemporary music.

Ever since the Quartet concluded their studies in Cologne in 2006 as well as their subsequent postgraduate studies of contemporary classical music in autumn 2007, the charm of the Quartet's performances has been based on the direct, intense and confident way they interpret music, and on the intelligent selection of music for their repertoire. Individuality and personal feeling transfuse to concert listeners, banning them, and become "an all-disarming power" (Der Landbote newspaper, January 2008).