Program: 
Alle verk av Maurice Ravel:
La valse
Strykekvartett i F-dur
Bolero
Tzigane

SITT I RO HVIS DU KLARER
Ravel ble født i Baskerland, og det preget hans arbeid resten av livet. Med en fransk far som var ingeniør, og en spansk mor som blir beskrevet som en «fritenker», så skjønner vi hvorfor Maurice sine verk ble som de ble. En god blanding av struktur blandet med lek og dans.
Det er vanskelig å klassifisere Ravel innenfor en stil. Det er hint av både impresjonismen (et begrep han ikke likte selv), men også nyklassisismen. Samtidig skal han ha vært fascinert av jazz og spirituals, kristne sanger laget av afrikanske slaver i USA. Musikk som byr opp til bevegelse.
Så spørs det om du klarer å sitte i ro når Oslo Strykekvartett river deg med i Bolero, eller når Benjamin byr opp til vals. Vi dømmer ikke. Slipp deg for all del løs. Som Ravel selv sa: «Music, I feel, must be emotional first and intellectual second.»

Solidly rooted in repertoire from the classical period to  the present day, Oslo String Quartet has become one of Scandinavia’s  most acclaimed and sought-after chamber ensembles. Their deep commitment  and unique ability to combine intellectual approach with vivid  presentation has attracted attention far beyond Norway’s borders. 
Oslo String Quartet was founded in 1991 by violinists Geir Inge  Lotsberg and Per Kristian Skalstad, viola player Are Sandbakken, and  cellist Øystein Sonstad. The four members each had wide experience from  playing with other ensembles and orchestras at home and abroad, coming  together to form an élite group for refined studies of the chamber music  repertoire. 
To begin with this resulted in an extensive series of  concerts at the University Aula in Oslo, where Beethoven’s string  quartets comprised the core of their programmes. In addition to other  major works for string quartet, the series included several premier  performances of works by Norwegian composers. The group made their mark internationally when they achieved a place in  the finals of the London International String Competition in 1994. 
At  the same time their recording of Edvard Grieg’s complete string  quartets was attracting attention abroad, and in 1999 the group’s  recording of the complete string quartets of Carl Nielsen was selected  as Editor’s Choice in the prestigious Gramophone magazine. After this  came numerous recordings of important works such as Alban Berg’s Lyric  Suite and Jean Sibelius’ Voces Intimae, and several newer works on  labels including Naxos, CPO, Fabra and Aurora. Wilhelm Stenhammar's  string quartets no. 3-6 were recorded by the OSQ 2006/2007, was released  by CPO in 2011. 
The groups latest recordings are Grieg Revisited  and a second volume with popular tunes arranged for the Quartet by  Øystein Sonstad, both projects for the Fabra label. 
From the very beginning Oslo String Quartet revealed a particular  interest in new music, and they regularly commission and perform works  by living composers. For their contribution to contemporary music they  were nominated “Performer of the Year” in 1998 by the Norwegian Society  of Composers, and in 1999/2000 they were awarded the Music Critics’  Prize. 
They have also been responsible for uncovering “hidden  treasures” of the Norwegian quartet repertoire; it is thanks to Oslo  String Quartet that we can today enjoy excellent recordings of works by  Fartein Valen, Klaus Egge, Johan Kvandal, David Monrad Johansen and Knut  Nystedt, among others.

Focus on presentation and experimenting with new and different  audiences has always been an important aspect of the quartet’s  activities. School concerts and mini-festivals with specially adapted  programmes have provided useful insight into communicating with  audiences. The “Beethoven Code” festival, during which Oslo String  Quartet performed Beethoven’s complete string quartets for the second  time, proved to be a major breakthrough, attracting new audience members  from a great variety of backgrounds. The key to this success lay  perhaps in the quartet’s close collaboration with a number of lecturers  and speakers who at each concert offered a new perspective on  Beethoven’s work.
In 2007 violinist Liv Hilde Klokk took over the  position of second violin. The quartet arranged two new mini-festivals:  “G-force” in conjunction with the hundredth anniversary of Edvard  Grieg’s death, and “Schubert Mysteries”. As well as continuing the  concept of a verbal perspective in the form of talks and readings, the  latter festival also introduced various musical guests. The quartet has  recently enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with the Stavanger  International Chamber Music Festival, Stavanger City of Culture 2008,  and the Norwegian National Ballet in a production called “På kammerset”  (In private). Together with choreographer Jorma Elo they have developed a  work for the stage which includes Schubert’s String Quartet in D minor,  “Death and the Maiden”. The production has been staged in Stavanger and  Kristiansand, and at Oslo’s new opera house.
As well as having been  regular guests at all the major chamber music festivals in Norway for  many years, Oslo String Quartet has been invited to major international  events, including the Schleswig Holstein festival. The quartet has  toured Germany and the rest of Europe, and given regular performances at  London’s Wigmore Hall. Their USA début in 2005, at Carnegie Hall in New  York, is the highlight of their international career to date.

Photo: Andrej Grilc

Oslo Strykekvartett

I 1991 ble Risør kammermusikkfest etablert med følgende målsetning :
”Risør kammermusikkfest er en ideell stiftelse som har til formål å arrangere en årlig Kammermusikkfest, der det skal presenteres så vel sentral klassisk musikk som nyere repertoar. Det skal tilstrebes å finne fram til musikere – både norske og utenlandske – som holder et anerkjent høyt kunstnerisk nivå, eller som har dokumentert et uomtvistelig talent. Kammermusikkfesten skal være et nasjonalt og internasjonalt forum for kammermusikk og skal også stimulere musikk-og kulturlivet i Risør og regionen.”
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Hennes Kongelige Høyhet Kronprinsessen Mette-Marit er den høye beskytter av festivalen.​

Ravelske danser

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