Vineta Sareika’s Guadagnini (1793) violin has helped paint the impeccable harmonic ensemble of the Berlin-based quartet Artemissince 2012. Just like Artemis, the ancient Greek goddess of chastity and hunting whose name the quartet shares, the musicians of Artemisare relentless in their search for new ideas, bringing out the natural intensity and charm of the music as a fundamental quality alongside technical excellence.
In this chamber music evening, three quartets by composers of different eras have been brought together. Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet Op 74 No 3 was created in the musical master’s London travel years, and perhaps that is the reason why the finale theme is reminiscent of horseshoe thudder. One of the cornerstones of this year’s Artemisconcert programme is the music of Béla Bartók, whose expressive sonic patterns come together the tightest in his String Quartet No. 4, composed in 1928 in Budapest, with its surprisingly filigree pizzicatomovement. But the songsmith Johannes Brahms’s slowly and studiously crafted pearl that plays well into Franz Schubert’s lonely and lyric atmosphere was described best by the violinist Joseph Joachim who used the romanticism phrase so befitting to the spirit of Brahms - Frei, aber einsam. Free, yet lonely.
PROGRAMME
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) String Quartet G-minor Hob. III: 74
Béla Bartók (1881-1945) String Quartet No. 4
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) String Quartet No. 2 A minor, Op. 51 No. 2
PARTICIPANTS
Vineta Sareika, violin
Anthea Kreston, violin
Gregor Sigl, viola
Eckart Runge, cello
