The string quartet, bearing the name of Vítězslava Kaprálová [1915 - 1940], was founded in 1995 under the original name Venus Quartet Prague, as an ensemble with an unconventional female-only setup. In 2000, in agreement with Vítězslava Kaprálová’s heirs and The Kapralova Society in Canada, the ensemble took the name of this important Czech composer.
The ensemble studied quartet playing with Professor Břetislav Novotný, the first leader of the famous Quartet of the City of Prague, and even today the Kapralova Quartet regularly consults its repertoire with Jiří Panocha, leader of the Panocha Quartet.
The quartet’s repertoire encompasses Classical and Romantic works; besides, in their effort to discover new and interesting compositions of the 20th century they are often offered works by contemporary Czech and foreign composers. The Kapralova Quartet gives concerts on leading European and world stages and is regularly invited to France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg and Japan. It has also given concerts in more unusual places, such as Kuwait, Israel and Cyprus. In 2004 and 2010, the ensemble undertook successful Canadian tours, where in addition to concert performances, members of the ensemble led master classes in Madison (Alberta) and were invited as guests of honour at the famous Banff Center.
The ensemble has made many CDs, radio and television recordings. As one of the few string quartets, the Kapralova Quartet has in its repertoire the complete quartet works of Alfred Schnittke, the performance of which at two concerts at the 2002 Prague Spring festival was highly critically acclaimed. A recording of these concerts was released on a CD and earned the ensemble a nomination for the Ensemble of the Year award.
The recording of Kapralova's string quartet from 2001 gained 3rd place in the live recording competition organized by the French radio station Radio France. In 2003, as part of a Japanese tour, the Japanese television broadcaster NHK recorded the ensemble's performance at the Nagoya Festival.
The quartet has collaborated with pianist Eugene Indjic, harpist Kateřina Englich, clarinettists Philippe Cuper and Ludmila Peterková, Panocha, Škampa and Pražák Quartets, Henschel Quartet and others. They also collaborated with leading Czech orchestras. In 2008, as part of the Prague Autumn Festival, accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic, the quartet performed Schulhoff's Concerto for String Quartet and Winds, conducted by Georg Pehlivanian. With the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK and conductor Zdeněk Mácal, they gave the world premiere of a composition by the foremost Czech composer Zdeněk Lukáš - Concerto for String Quartet and Symphony Orchestra and later presented the same concerto with the Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc under the direction of Petr Vronský.
