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Whatever you do, don't call the Shanghai Quartet "young."
"We think we passed the stage of being a young string quartet," said first violinist Weigang Li. "People still call us that. But I think we are at a different stage now."
Indeed, since the quartet was founded in China in 1983, it has racked up impressive critical honors and landed a recording contract with Delos, even though all the current members-violinists Li and Yiwen Jiang, violist Honggang Li (Weigang's brother) and cellist James Wilson-are only in their early 30s. But widespread recognition still eludes them.
The quartet was created because the Chinese authorities wanted an ensemble to enter the prestigious Portsmouth (England) International Quartet competition in 1985. Four students from the Shanghai Conservatory were chosen, including the two brothers.
"They considered us among the best students in the conservatory," Weigang Li said in a recent phone interview from Richmond, Va., where the quartet is in residency at the University of Richmond. "We were pretty disciplined and musical. They knew we would work hard to have a chance to go to England. And we did."
The surprise was how well that work paid off. "We thought we would get through the first round-that way we wouldn't lose face when we went back. Actually, we won second place. We came close to winning, a jury member told us later, but we didn't do that well on the second round. That really inspired us. We thought maybe we should stick together."
He was 19 at the time. His brother was 20.
"Ours was the third generation in our family to play the violin," Weigang Li said. "We had no choice. We had to play. Our parents insisted. I am very grateful about that right now."
The boys' parents survived the Cultural Revolution, which ended in 1976 with the death of Mao Zedong, by avoiding Western music "entirely," he said....