Opus 13

Haydn, Beethoven, Britten: this represents the very pinnacle of string quartet mastery spanning three centuries. Or rather four, for strictly speaking one must also include the magnificent Opus 13 – that is, the ensemble founded in Oslo in 2014 and thus a 21st-century ensemble. The award-winning quartet has also performed at Esterházy Palace – and pays tribute to Joseph Haydn with the brilliant Opus 76/5, whose slow movement ranks among the greatest treasures of the repertoire. With Ludwig van Beethoven’s three quartets written for Prince Rasumovsky, the form expands into symphonic dimensions – featuring a ‘thème russe’ in the finale. And in the Andante calmo of his First Quartet, Benjamin Britten draws on the music of the Elizabethan era, which he so loved, reviving it with his modern techniques and great intensity: the Renaissance, reborn once more.