Jordans Music Chiaroscuro Quartet

Programme:

• Haydn Quartet in C major, Op. 33 No.3 'The Bird'
• Beethoven Quartet in E minor, Op. 59 No.2 'Razumovsky'
• Mozart Divertimento in F major, K.138
• Beethoven Quartet in C major, Op. 59 No.3 'Razumovsky'

We are delighted to open our 2024 season with a performance by the Chiaroscuro Quartet. Formed in 2005 and dubbed ‘a trailblazer for the authentic performance of high classical chamber music’ in Gramophone, this international ensemble performs music of the Classical and early Romantic periods on gut strings and with historical bows. Frequently to be heard at the Wigmore Hall, the quartet’s unique sound – described in The Observer as ‘a shock to the ears of the best kind’ – is highly acclaimed by audiences and critics all over Europe.

The concert opens with one of Haydn’s set of six Op. 33 quartets, nicknamed ‘The Bird’ after the chirps of the violins in the opening movement. The third of Mozart’s set of Divertimenti K.136-8, a remarkably assured work for a composer of only 16, creates a fascinating contrast played between two of Beethoven’s revolutionary Op. 59 quartets, commissioned by Beethoven’s great patron, Count Razumovsky. Completed in 1808, these quartets have the complexity and richness associated with symphonies.