Alban Berg Quartet, one of the world's leading string ensembles, will grace Beijing for the first time and probably the last time next month.

Members of Alban Berg Quartet are seen in a file photo. The quartet will play in Beijing July 15-16.

The quartet will play at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on July 15 and 16 before fulfilling an earlier promise to disband.

Members of the Alban Berg Quartet first got together in 1971 in Vienna, Austria with an agreement that the group should be dismissed when a member departs. The time came when violist Thomas Kakuska passed away in 2005. The remaining members announced later they would officially break up this July.

Under such a context, NCPA vice president Yang Jingmao saw the upcoming shows as an "unprecedented" opportunity to review the band's legendary career.

To help the audience cherish the moment, NCPA will hold a lecture on June 29 to introduce the music and history of the group.

The quartet's Beijing line-up will include original members Günter Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, and Valentin Erben, as well as Kakuska's pupil Isabel Charisius.

Tickets for the shows are being sold at 80-480 yuan (US$12-70).

(CRI June 20, 2008)