Quatuor Danel presents their unique interpretation of the works of Mieczysław Weinberg, Sergei Prokofiev and Ludwig van Beethoven. Weinberg’s Seventh String Quartet is arguably his most exquisite work. While it is intimate, lyrical and serious, with a hint of Shostakovich, it is imbued with a warm humanity, seeking to connect rather than confront. 

Prokofiev’s First String Quartet is similarly mild in tone, peppered with contrary accents. Beethoven’s magnificent String Quartet Op. 59, No. 1 features what is perhaps the most beloved – and most solemn – Adagio in the entire quartet repertoire.

Quatuor Danel has captured the complete string quartets of all three composers in acclaimed recordings. When Weinberg’s musical legacy was on the verge of fading into obscurity, Quatuor Danel brought it back into the light. In 2019, they performed all seventeen quartets of Weinberg over a single weekend at the Muziekgebouw. Their advocacy for this lyrical, musical kindred spirit of Dmitri Shostakovich has since gained widespread resonance.

Over the past 25 years, Cuarteto Casals has built a formidable reputation for refined, expressive interpretations of the classical repertoire. They make Franz Schubert’s famous String Quartet No. 14, in which Death seduces and leads a young girl away, whisper with a hoarse intensity in the slow movement. The tonal beauty, perfect balance and intuitive musicality of this top-tier quartet, which has a warm spot for Spanish composers, are praised worldwide. 

Like Cuarteto Casals, composer Raquel García-Tomás hails from Barcelona. The music she writes has a strikingly rich and varied sound that is a perfect fit for Cuarteto Casals. Her style is contemporary yet, much like that of many of her contemporaries, interwoven with recognizable elements of the classical-romantic tradition. A tradition that traces its roots back to Joseph Haydn, the father of the string quartet genre, who defined the contours of this classical style.

More string quartets in 2026/2027
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An exemplary programme by the Calidore String Quartet, featuring two masterpieces of the classical repertoire alongside works by two thought-provoking young composers. ‘The future of music is rooted in the now, yet it also draws its significance from the past’, say the Californian players, who are fascinated by the connection between music and time. Their interpretations explore that relationship, and they play that game with exceptional sharpness and intensity. 
  
Beethoven pointed far into the future in his last string quartets. The uncompromising Great Fugue, Op. 133, still sounds incredibly modern today. Similarly, Adventure also resonates within Shaw’s compositions: diverse genres are woven into lucid, modern takes on centuries-old musical ideas. British composer Anna Clyne, Grammy-nominated and praised by The New York Times for her ‘uncommon gifts’, belongs to the same generation of innovators as Caroline Shaw and writes music that is as accessible as it is contemporary. 

“The kind of sublimity other quartets spend a lifetime seeking” (Los Angeles Times)

What makes Quatuor Modigliani a typically French ensemble is their distinctive sound. A sound that blossoms with passion in the quartet of Spanish-born Parisian Joaquín Turina and that lends a unique, authentic colour to the String Quartet of César Franck, the ‘Brahms of Wallonia’. Tonight’s program transports us to Paris around 1900, the era of the Belle Époque. It was the age of the enigmatic Erik Satie, of cabaret and vaudeville theatres, of Proust and Mata Hari, of bohemians and salon concerts, and the rise of Claude Debussy.  
 
In 1893, Debussy wrote his one and only string quartet. It marries elegance and French clarity with Debussy’s unbridled imagination as he broke away from the traditional rules of composition. The music has a warm, luminous sound, at times capricious, yet always direct and unadorned.  

More string quartets in 2026/2027
Explore all the concerts by clicking here and listen to the playlist below ⬇️