Quatuor Ardeo

Would love save the world? It can certainly free hearts from social, political and cultural constraints. The beautiful second movement of Beethoven's Op. 18 n⁰1 is inspired by the tomb scene in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The year 1838 was a particularly happy and productive one for Mendelssohn, corresponding with the birth of his first child. 

Janacek used the viola d'amore to embody the voice of his muse. Fascinated by this instrument with its special silvery tone created by the effect of sympathetic strings, he chose to play the viola part of his quartet on the viola d'amore. 

We have chosen to perform this version to honour the composer's imagination.

DVORAK
Extraits des Cyprès

MENDELSSOHN
op 44 nº2

- Intermission -

JANACEK
Lettres intimes (version with viola d'amore)