Quatuor Zaïde

String Quartet

The Zaïde Quartet is Charlotte Maclet (first violin), Leslie Boulin Raulet (second violin), Céline Tison (viola) and Juliette Salmona (cello).

The Zaïde quartet was created in 2009 and has established itself on the international scene as one of the rare quartets made up entirely of women. The numerous prizes in prestigious international competitions obtained between 2010 and 2012, notably in Bordeaux, Vienna and Beijing (*), establish it as one of the essential chamber music ensembles in the classical musical landscape. He is today recognized for his high standards and his continued exploration of the sound spectrum of the quartet.

The Zaïde Quartet has been playing for 15 years in the most beautiful halls in the world and recently shared the stage with Martha Argerich, Nelson Goerner, Xavier Philips, Michel Portal and Lise de la Salle. (*)

- Excellence and kindness -

The quartet repertoire is recognized as particularly demanding in the classical world. Thus the Zaïde Quartet founded ISQA (the International String Quartet Academy) in 2021, an international and intergenerational academy in which quartets can exchange and provide necessary technical, musical, physiological and psychological support in a holistic approach. From great masters to young stars, all are invited to research and play together, receive valuable advice and improve in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

The musicians also have a special bond with the NoMadMusic label and its artistic director Hannelore Guittet, who has accompanied them since their first recording project and with whom they have already produced seven albums.

The quartet is also known for its diverse repertoire, which ranges from classical quartets to contemporary works, including those of Iannis Xenakis, Jonathan Harvey, Wolfgang Rihm and Sofia Gubaidulina.

Over the years, the Zaïde quartet has forged close friendly and artistic ties with several composers such as Bryce Dessner, Suzanne Giraud, Francesca Verunelli and Cécile Buchet, from whom it commissioned several pieces.

They also collaborate with big names in jazz: Michel Portal, Marion Rampal, Sylvain Rifflet, Yaron Herman and join forces with different companies such as the Sydney Dance Company in the show “Impermanence” with Bryce Dessner’s music.

While being part of the heritage passed down by the great figures of the quartet, the four musicians offer interpretations inspired by their “imaginary laboratory”: the connection of sound with the body, artistic risk-taking and interactions with the public.

The Zaïde Quartet is an “associated artist” of the Singer-Polignac Foundation and is supported by the City of Dijon, the DRAC Bourgogne Franche-Comté and Indosuez Wealth Management.

Charlotte Maclet plays a 1769 Milanese violin by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi on loan from the El Pasito association.
Leslie Boulin Raulet plays a violin by Jacques Bocquay from 1715.
Céline Tison plays a viola by Sebastian Rauch from 1720.
Juliette Salmona plays a cello by Claude-Augustin Miremont from 1876.

*Laureates of numerous international competitions: ARD 2012, Beijing International Music Competition 2011 (1st prize), Charles Hennen 2010, Banff 2010, Bordeaux 2010, Vienna 2012 (1st prize).

*concert halls: Wigmore Hall in London, Philharmonies in Berlin, Cologne and Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Konserthuset in Stockholm, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Jordan Hall in Boston, Merkin Hall in New York , Hong Kong, Korea, Brazil etc…

*The great masters: Hatto Beyerle, Erbherard Feltz, Goran Gribajecvic, Johannes Meissl, Gordan Nicolic and Gábor Takács-Nagy.

Press

« So too are the dynamics and inflections, offering this full-scale work more tonal variety in performance than the opera excerpts »
The Strad

« Exuberance and drama defines the Zaïde set »
Gramophone

« A Regenerating effect! »
Le Monde, Pierre Gervasoni

“The four musicians don’t seem to know about technical difficulties, they play at breakneck speed, obviously with great joy in playing and still have enough time to smile at each other [...] The four musicians create tension through their incredible skills and huge dynamic increases until the final chord.”
Nürtingen Zeitung

« The Zaïde Quartet likes to take risks, all the time. The perilous phrasings which endanger the whole are perhaps their trademark. Their playing is so deeply intertwined that almost every passage leaves you breathless, which in itself is the mark of great chamber music. »
Classykeo

“Les Zaïde et Bruno Delepelaire creusent la veine passionnelle, par leur élan, leur souffle, par la symbiose de leurs énergies et par la profondeur de leurs basses, décuplant la puissance sonore. Quel grain! Les couleurs et les textures, merveilleusement captées, éclairent mille détails, fusant ici et là tels des feux d’artifice dans une atmosphère exaltante de course-poursuite. Cette lecture inventive, pouls battant, saisit et hypnotise : c’est la folie, c’est l’envoutement, c’est Tolstoï.”
Classica, décembre 2020 – CHOC du mois – Fabienne Bouvet

“The Zaïde and Bruno Delepelaire hit the passionate vein, by their momentum, their breath, by the symbiosis of their energies and by the depth of their bass, multiplying tenfold the power of sound. What a grain! The colors and textures, wonderfully captured, illuminate thousand details, bursting here and there like fireworks in an exhilarating race-chase atmosphere. This inventive reading, pulse beating, grips and hypnotizes: it’s madness, it’s bewitchment, it’s Tolstoï. ”
CLASSICA, December 2020 – CHOC of the month – Fabienne Bouvet

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