ConcertPulse
Quatuor Agate
Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)
At the Rising Stars Festival, the Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall again becomes the stage for the most exciting musicians of the young generation in January 2025. Amongst these stars of tomorrow is the Quatuor Agate, as the only ensemble. The string quartet formed in Berlin in 2016 and the musicians’ joint career long since assumed an international format. The Guardian enthuses about the Brahms debut album by the four Frenchmen: »Warm, wonderfully refined sound, impeccable intonation and punctilious attention to detail.« Under the heading »Outlaws«, the Quatuor Agate presents a well-thought out concept programme in Hamburg with String Quartet No. 8 by Dmitri Shostakovich at its heart. Under the impact of the tyranny of his Russian homeland, Shostakovich created a piece of bloodcurdling intensity in 1960 that he saw as his own musical obituary. Adrien Jurkovic, Thomas Descamps, Raphaël Pagnon and Simon Iachemet surround this confessional music with a broad-based programme combination which ranges from the Renaissance to the present day. Projections accompany the programme and shine a light on the life of the composers. With singing, the musicians rise far above their usual role as instrumentalists in the commissioned composition by Anna Korsun.