Mendellsohn, Haydn, Mozart, Quartets

The string quartet can be considered the principal formation of chamber music, ever since the writing for four solo strings became the real test on which the leading composers measured themselves in the second half of the 18th century.
The reason is as simple as it is obvious: when faced with meagre instrumental resources (when compared to the timbral and expressive possibilities that the orchestra can offer) and fixed (again, in comparison with orchestral writing, it is evident how in favour of the latter there is a possibility of a more orchestral composition), the solo strings became the true test-bed on which the principal composers measured themselves;in favour of the latter, there is the possibility of varying the ensemble according to requirements); what makes the difference is the composer's ability to write for these instruments and to enhance the peculiarities of each instrument.
If Franz Joseph Haydn is universally recognised as the “Papà of the German Quartet, two composers who are profoundly different from each other but who share a dazzling talent that elevated them above others from an early age are equally deserving of mention: Mozart and Mendellsohn.This concert is a wonderful journey into the sounds of the quartet as explored by three of its leading interpreters between Classicism and Romanticism, in which the use of instruments mounted as they were at the time of the composers will bring the listener even closer to the essence of the music of the period.