Join us for the Lancaster debut of the Victoria String Quartet, named after their first concert at the Victoria Baths in Manchester!
Beethoven - String Quartet Opus 95 in F minor "Serioso"
Dvorak - '5 Cypresses' - Love Songs
Mendelssohn - Quartet Opus 44 in D *
Benedict Holland (Violin)
David Greed (Violin)
Catherine Yates (Viola)
Jennifer Langridge (Cello)
The Victoria String Quartet started life in 2017 with David Greed, Orchestra Leader of Opera North and distinguished staff of the Royal Northern College of Music. The collective experience of this group of players is immense and this concert promises to be a treat.
Last year the quartet gave a live-streamed performance (without an audience) at the Stoller Hall, at a time when any kind of performing was almost impossible because of the pandemic. This broadcast was considered to be quite a beacon of hope in the performing arts world - and included a rendition of the Beethoven quartet which is being played here in Lancaster.
Their programme, linked to the theme of 'age and ageing', begins with Beethoven's 'Serioso' quartet which was very experimental for its time (1810). In a letter to a friend Beethoven had written "If I had not read somewhere that no one should quit life voluntarily while he could still do something worthwhile, I would have been dead long ago… Oh life is so beautiful, but for me it is poisoned forever". We can hear this despair through the F minor key and the turbulent mood of this amazing quartet.
The Cypresses, in contrast, are a selection of Dvorak's 18 love songs for string quartet were arranged 2 years after their initial composition. The text for these songs comes from poems by Gustav Pfleger-Moravsky, from his collection 'Cypresses'.
* This is a change to the original listing
Duration
60 mins + short intervalMatinée Concert
This concert commences at 3pmhttps://www.victoriastringquartet.co.uk
https://twitter.com/victoria4tet
