ConcertPulse
Amaryllis Quartett
Laeiszhalle, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)
According to the accounts of his contemporaries, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was not only a gifted composer but also an enthusiastic quartet player on violin and viola, a passion he shared with his friend and mentor Joseph Haydn. One would have loved to have been there when the two unpacked their instruments to engage in joint rehearsals and music-making. What musical ideas were exchanged here? How was the timbre of Mozart’s playing composed and what ideas of articulation did he come up with? In any case, his admiration for Haydn seems to have been very great. Mozart dedicated a cycle of six string quartets in all to him in 1785. In Rudolf Kelterborn’s string quartet, styles and musical influences mix to the utmost. Complexity, plurality and stylistic diversity intertwine here and in this way create an extremely contemporary sound painting that is at the same time deeply rooted in musical tradition. In the second part, the Amaryllis Quartet will be joined by the solo flutist of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Henrik Wiese, and will trace the musical journey back to Mozart via the romantic-impressionist music of Albert Roussel and Mozart’s contemporary Johann Martin Kraus. Mozart’s instrumental music would be inconceivable without his opera compositions, so the evening concludes with an aria from »Le nozze di Figaro«, linking the two genres that were so important to Mozart.