Goldner String Quartet

Among Australian string quartets, the Goldner String Quartet holds a persuasive position at the forefront, earned through sustained activity spanning decades and recognition that extends well beyond national borders. Formed in 1995, the group comprises violinists Dene Olding and Dimity Hall, violist Irina Morozova, and cellist Julian Smiles. Its members share both professional ties and personal bonds, performing together in the Australia Ensemble at the University of New South Wales while forming two married couples—Dene Olding with Irina Morozova and Dimity Hall with Julian Smiles. The ensemble takes its name from Richard Goldner, the Romanian-Australian founder of Musica Viva Australia, and has frequently appeared under that organization’s sponsorship. In 2000 the quartet presented a survey of twentieth-century string quartet literature at the Adelaide Festival. It maintains a regular presence at leading festivals throughout Australia and New Zealand, among them Music in the Hunter and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, where it has held the post of Quartet in Residence, as well as the Adam Chamber Music Festival held in Nelson, New Zealand, in 2017. Two years after its establishment the ensemble made its first appearance at London’s Wigmore Hall; its American debut followed at the 92nd Street Y in New York, with additional concerts in Washington. Further tours have taken the players to Italy, France, Finland, and South Korea.

The quartet entered the recording studio in 1998 with two albums devoted to Peter Sculthorpe’s string quartets. Subsequent releases have appeared chiefly on the British Hyperion label and on ABC Classics, the recording arm of Australia’s national broadcaster. For the latter imprint the musicians committed to disc a complete traversal of Beethoven’s string quartets, captured live at Musica Viva events. Their principal focus, however, has remained the chamber repertory of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; one such project, issued in 2017, paired Alexander Borodin’s Piano Quintet—performed with Piers Lane—and his String Quartet No. 2. In that same year, marking the ensemble’s twenty-second season, its original personnel remained unchanged.