ConcertPulse
String quartets by Schumann and Rihm
Philharmonie Berlin, Chamber Music Hall (Berlin)
Whether in the 19th or 20th century: The string quartet is the supreme genre of chamber music, and every composer must consider it. Robert Schumann’s quartet cycle op. 41 is a stroke of genius; members of the Berliner Philharmoniker play numbers 1 and 3. Inspired by the quartets of Beethoven and Mendelssohn, Schumann created his own musical cosmos, full of poetry and instrumental song. Our late Composer in Residence Wolfgang Rihm, on the other hand, favours contrasts in his Fourth String Quartet. On the one hand, his work appears brusque, passionate and effervescent; on the other, tender, intimate and poetic.