MARIANI PIANO QUARTET

BIOGRAPHY

Philipp Bohnen, violin

Barbara Buntrock, viola

Peter-Philipp Staemmler, cello

Gerhard Vielhaber, piano

"The fabulous Mariani Quartet shows once again that it belongs
to the absolute elite for its instrumentation." (Radio Bremen 2)

The Mariani Piano Quartet is "arguably the most exciting piano quartet of today" (Onlinemerker) and, since its inception in 2009, has made a name for itself as a style-savvy and impassioned piano quartet.
It was at the German Music Competition in the spring of 2011 that the Mariani Piano Quartet first came into the spotlight. As individual members of the ensemble had already achieved solo success here in previous years, the piano quartet was also awarded a scholarship. The ensemble is now a regular guest at major music festivals such as the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, as well as being at home on Europe's most prestigious stages such as the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Philharmonie de Luxembourg.
In addition to the widely anticipated continuation of their Brahms&Gernsheim CD project, other highlights of the 2022/23 season included concerts in northern Italy, their debut at Vienna's Konzerthaus, and a re-engagement at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. Their debut in the Liederhalle Stuttgart will follow in January 2024.

Countless radio recordings by NDR, SWR and hr testify to the exceptional quality of the Mariani Piano Quartet's live performances, ever seeking to forge a balance between the classics and the more obscure. Reviews describe the quartet's "spirit and passion", "vitality and sheer delight in playing", "urgent intensity" and "lifeblood in every note".

The work of the Mariani Piano Quartet has meanwhile been documented in a highly acclaimed discography. "[...] a celebration of sound at its very best!" raved FONO FORUM in 2018 about the recording of Emilie Mayer's piano quartets. In addition to some classics on their albums, such as Robert Schumann’s and Gabriel Fauré’s piano quartets, there are also absolute rarities such as the piano quartets of Martinů and Enescu, as well as new discoveries like the works of Emilie Mayer or Friedrich Gernsheim. For each of their recordings "Brahms&Gernsheim Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2", the ensemble received the "Diapason d'Or", as well as the prestigious "Tokusen" award from the Japanese Record Store Geijutsu.

The name "Mariani" is derived from the Italian violin maker Antonio Mariani from Pesaro, the creator of Barbara Buntrock's viola (ca. 1650).