Mozart & Enescu

Description

The Winterthur String Quartet is getting reinforcement! The ensemble, consisting of the four principal players of the violins, violas, and cellos, is doubled: an octet formation is created, which became especially famous through the renowned Opus 20 by the 16-year-old Felix Mendelssohn from 1825. Georges Enescu was only three years older when he completed his no less monumental string octet in 1900. The four movements, whose motifs are cyclically arranged, flow directly into one another, forming a single large movement – a form that was not uncommon in Paris, where Enescu spent a large part of his life. Like Schönberg's sextet "Verklärte Nacht" composed a year earlier, the octet stands on the threshold between Romanticism and Modernism, but is clearly more committed to classical counterpoint. Given this consistently polyphonic structure, it is not surprising that Enescu worked on this piece for about one and a half years. Anyone who does not know the piece must have heard it at least once in their life. However, it only truly reveals itself after multiple listenings. What a fortunate coincidence, then, that the octet will also be performed at the subscription concert on April 21/22, then in choral formation!

Mozart's work on his three "Prussian" quartets took a similarly long time. When the trip to the court of King Friedrich Wilhelm II in Potsdam ended without concert engagements, Mozart hoped to impress the cello-playing monarch at least with quartets. He was able to complete the first string quartet, with correspondingly grateful solos for the cello, already in June 1789. But back in Vienna, he was again plagued by financial worries; the "arduous work" on the two other quartets dragged on until the summer of the following year. Moreover, they never fulfilled their purpose – they premiered in Mozart's quartet subscription concerts in 1790 and 1791 in Vienna, and were published, of course without any dedication to the Prussian king, only shortly after Mozart's death.

George Enescu: String Octet in C major, Op. 7

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet No. 23 in F major, KV 590

Ensemble:
Winterthur String Quartet

Violin:
Bogdan Božović
Francesco Sica
Ralph Orendain
Anzhela Golubyeva Staub

Viola:
Jürg Dähler
Chie Tanaka

Cello:
Flurin Cuonz
Anikó Illényi

Highlights

• Performance of the famous string octet by Enescu
• The Winterthur String Quartet is expanded to an octet formation
• Concert on April 21/22 at Stadthaus Winterthur

General Information

The concert at Stadthaus Winterthur presents the string octet by Georges Enescu, situated between Romanticism and Modernism. The Winterthur String Quartet is expanded with additional musicians to an octet formation. The concert takes place on April 21 and 22.

Location

Stadthausstrasse 4a, 8400 Winterthur, Schweiz

Hide Map

Loading map...

How to get there

Get Directions