Old is New: Quatuor Mosaïques Reimagine Haydn, Mendelssohn and Schubert

By Amanda Keil, 15 April 2012

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Reviewed at The 92nd Street Y: Kaufmann Concert Hall, New York City on 11 April 2012

Haydn, String Quartet no. 63 in B flat major "Sunrise," Op.76 no.4, Hob III:78

Mendelssohn, String Quartet no. 2 in A minor, Op.13

Schubert, String Quartet no. 13 "Rosamunde" in A minor, D.804

Quatuor Mosaïques

Quatuor Mosaïques: Gut instinct

Zwölftöner, 12th January

String quartets don’t come much more ‘period’ than the Quatuor Mosaïques, even if their ideas of historical authenticity are more flexible than the ensemble which brought them together (Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus Wien).

***11

Quatour Mosaïques explores neglected repertoire

Nahoko Gotoh, 3rd April

Most string quartets seldom step outside the established canon of the classical Viennese repertoire (Haydn to Schubert), some Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak, some 20th century French repertoire, Bartok and Shostakovich. Not so the Quatuor Mosaïques.

Russian Spring: Elder and the Hallé reunite in glorious style

Leighton Jones, 7th May

The music of Glinka, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky fills Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall with mystery, intrigue and jollity.

****1

Classical grace and Romantic eloquence from the Philharmonia

Christopher Woodley, 7th May

The contrasting delights of Schumann, Brahms and Dvořák are powerfully evoked in performances of charm, eloquence and high drama from the Philharmonia, continuing the orchestra’s 80th anniversary celebrations.

****1

Spacious Prokofiev from Seong-Jin Cho and the Munich Philharmonic

SangKwon Lee, 6th May

Seong-Jin Cho’s premise in Prokofiev is compelling – to reconcile Russian gravitational attack and monumental construction with clarity, colour and contrapuntal legibility.

***11

Marc-André Hamelin surveys two centuries of piano sonatas

Sam Jacobson, 5th May

From Haydn and Beethoven to Weinberg and Rachmaninov, Marc-André Hamelin reveals the piano sonata as a form of breadth, flexibility and expressive power.

****1

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Amanda Keil

Amanda Keil is a native New Yorker who sings, teaches, writes about music and fundraises for the arts. Her broad musical interests have led her to perform music from ancient to modern times, and she is the founder of Musica Nuova, which stages Baroque songs in modern settings. She blogs at thousandfoldecho.