Schoeck & Mendelssohn

Description

Switzerland may not have a Richard Strauss, a Béla Bartók, or a Paul Hindemith. But it has an Othmar Schoeck! And now four female musicians from the Musikkollegium Winterthur are bringing him into the spotlight. Music of such quality is rare in this country, and the great promise Schoeck showed in his youth can be experienced in his 1st String Quartet. Werner Reinhart must have felt the same way, as he began his lifelong support of Schoeck soon after the quartet's premiere. Schoeck was also acquainted with Werner's brother, the writer Hans, and now his music is being performed in the house of another Reinhart brother, the art collector Oskar. Schoeck's 1st String Quartet is a masterpiece, becoming increasingly strange and yet more captivating upon close listening. The middle movement, with its intense mood changes, is very modern in its collage style, while also reflecting Schoeck's restless (love) life. The first movement, on the other hand, feels like a neoclassical adaptation of Felix Mendelssohn's quartets, which is easier said than done! Schoeck succeeds in this, not by chance, as he was a master student of Max Reger in Leipzig. In the third and final movement, which takes up almost half of the work, the Mendelssohn tone returns, but the romantic introspection is sometimes hollowed out and turned inside out... In this respect, Hindemith, Bartók, and Strauss are not far away, yet everything remains distinctly Schoeck.

True Mendelssohn follows in eight songs and a fragment, composed to texts by Heinrich Heine and arranged for string quartet by Aribert Reimann (1936–2024). As one of the most important opera composers of the recent era, Reimann understood how to give instrumental expression to the underlying and hidden meanings of Mendelssohn and Heine. The well-known Winterthur soprano Mélanie Adami, experienced in opera, sings the congenial Mendelssohn/Reimann cycle.

The museum café is open before and after the event. The museum pass is not valid for this event.

Othmar Schoeck: String Quartet No. 1 in D major, op. 23

Aribert Reimann: "....or shall it mean death?" Eight songs and a fragment for soprano and string quartet by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Violin:
Cécile Vonderwahl
Beata Checko-Zimmermann

Viola:
Ivona Krapikaite

Cello:
Seraphina Rufer

Soprano:
Mélanie Adami

Highlights

• Performance of Othmar Schoeck's 1st String Quartet
• Female musicians of the Musikkollegium Winterthur
• Event at the Oskar Reinhart Collection House in Winterthur

General Information

The concert presents the 1st String Quartet by Othmar Schoeck, an important Swiss composer. It takes place as part of a music event at the Oskar Reinhart Collection House in Winterthur. The performance highlights the modern and romantic aspects of Schoeck's work.

Location

Haldenstrasse 95, 8400 Winterthur, Schweiz

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