• in recognition of their artistic achievements, in 2001 the members received the Prešeren Fund Prize – the highest state award in the arts
• the idea of establishing the quartet was set in motion by the then artistic director of the Slovenian Philharmonic, composer Ivo Petrić
• due to his fame, in 1721 without even auditioning Giuseppe Tartini, after who the quartet is named, became the concert master for the orchestra of the Basilica of St Anthony of Padua in Padua, or more precisely “primo violino e capo di concerto” – a title created specially for him

Tartini String Quartet
Miran Kolbl, violin
Romeo Drucker, violin
Aleksandar Milošev, viola
Miloš Mlejnik, cello

Programme:
M. Mihevc: Pizzi – Quattro – Archi
L. van Beethoven: String Quartet in F major, Op. 18, No. 1
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B. Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, »From my life«

In their work to date, especially within the concert cycle Evenings of Chamber Music, the musicians of the Tartini String Quartet have succeeded in creating a convincing and fresh approach that is a new dimension not just in the authority of their performance and refinement of the programme, but also in how open their repertoire is. In formulating concert programmes the members of the quartet do not in fact turn away from the hard and fast repertoire of this type, but select works with foresight and consideration, allowing them to evolve in their interpretations. In their concert cycle they present certain classical works through which they demonstrate their imaginative and mature performance approach in a coherent, gradual evolution. In the six concerts of the Tartini String Quartet we will honour their 40th concert season. String quartets are regarded as the most challenging type of chamber music, and perhaps even of all instrumental compositions. They show the composer’s mastery of four obligate, in principle equal, independent voices. Since the ensemble of four string players does not allow for a wide range of possible orchestral colour, it requires extremely precise, minutely observed application of musical elements, which must come together in a convincing whole.