QUATUOR ÉBÈNE
Hearing the complete Beethoven quartets is the experience of a lifetime for musicians and listeners alike. Having completed a first full cycle in 2020, the Quatuor Ébène returns to the task in its new line-up (Pierre Colombet, Gabriel Le Magadure, Marie Chilemme and Yuya Okamoto) for a series of seven exceptional concerts, marking the bicentenary of the German composer’s death.
Programme
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
String Quartet No. 5 in A major Op. 18 No. 5
String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major Op. 127
Concert without interval
Evgeny Kissin and Quatuor Ebene play: Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57: III. Scherzo
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A fourth instalment, like a luminous respite halfway through the cycle. An opportunity also to recall the patrons who commissioned works from Beethoven, notably Prince Lobkowitz who financed the first six quartets. In No. 5, the debt to Classicism has never been more evident, for the German composer deliberately draws on a score by Mozart (K. 464). The shadow of Haydn also passes through this lively, refreshing work. We owe to the Russian Prince Galitzin the commission of the late quartets, which occupied Beethoven during the last two years of his life. Opening this sumptuous period, No. 12 is surely the most accessible work in the series, thanks to its traditional structure (four movements) and its sunny character. Nevertheless, it contains an Adagio of unprecedented breadth, among the longest in the quartet literature. In this masterpiece of astonishing transparency, the Ébène will display their customary instrumental cohesion and lyricism.
