Agnès Sulem
Agnès Sulem Bialobroda is the first violin of the Quatuor Rosamonde since its foundation in 1981, and she is professor of Chamber Music (class of string quartets) at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Lyon since 2012.
Winner of several international competitions (Evian 1983, Salzburg 1986), the Quatuor Rosamonde has been performing for 40 years on the most prestigious international stages.
Heir to the great French quartet school, the Quatuor Rosamonde was trained at the Paris Conservatory in the class of Jacques Parrenin, and Yale University. From Raphaël Hillyer, violist for 25 years with the Juilliard Quartet, and Eugène Lehner, violist of the Kolish Quartet and a friend of Schoenberg and Bartók, they received the heritage of the teaching of the great masters of the twentieth century.
The discography of the Quatuor Rosamonde comprises more than twenty CDs and DVDs for the labels Harmonia Mundi, Arion, Fuga libera, ZigZag territoires, Transart, Editions Jade, distinguished by the highest awards (Grand Prix du disque de l’Académie Charles Cros, Diapason d’or, …). It testifies their concern to approach the most varied repertoire, from Viennese classics to French music and contemporary creation.
One of its recent recordings is dedicated to Beethoven’s last string quartets (label Arion). There, the Quatuor Rosamonde gives us its vision, after a long and deep maturation, of these summits of chamber music. Based on the theme of filiation, the latest album “Viennese Legacy (I)” (2023) puts Haydn’s mastery and invention with the inspiration and emancipation of the young Beethoven into perspective in two masterpieces of the classical literature for string quartet. This album will be followed in 2024 by “Viennese Legacy (II)” with quartets by Schubert, Berg and Webern.
The Quatuor Rosamonde has worked in close collaboration with many composers such as Pascal Dusapin, Philippe Fénelon, Renaud Gagneux, Philippe Hersant, György Kurtág, Jacques Lenot, Olivier Messiaen, Michèle Reverdy, François Sarhan, Eric Tanguy, Ton-That Tiêt and especially Henri Dutilleux who considered their interpretation of his quartet — recorded in his presence — as the reference version of this piece.
The Quatuor Rosamonde has been the subject of two documentary films by Vincent Bataillon; “Ainsi la Nuit”, a film testifying to the long collaboration between Henri Dutilleux and the quartet and “Notes pour un Quatuor” focusing on the creative process in the interpretation of Beethoven’s string quartets.
Agnès Sulem has performed as a soloist with various orchestras such as l'Ensemble Intercontemporain, l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, l’Orchestre de Cannes Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, l'Orchestre International des Jeunesses Musicales under the conducting of Pierre Boulez, Maurizio Kagel, Pol Mule, Philippe Bender, Jean-Marc Cochereau, Marcello Viotti.
Born into a family of musicians, Agnès Sulem began very early the study of music. She studied at the Conservatoire de Nice and then at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, where she obtained a 1st Violin Prize and 1st Chamber Music Prize. In parallel to her musical studies, she conducted high-level scientific studies and holds a PhD in Mathematics.
Agnès Sulem is recognized a dedicated pedagogue and is regularly invited to give Master classes of string quartets and chamber music.
Agnès Sulem has been awarded the title of “Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur”.