Repertoire

Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F major, Op. 35 (1902-1903) 28′
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2 “Razumovsky” (1806) 34′

Artists

Quatuor Modigliani
Amaury Coeytaux, violin
Loïc Rio, violin
Laurent Marfaing, viola
François Kieffer, cello

ProgramME

Modigliani Quartet opens the third edition of the Barcelona International Quartet Biennale with a work that has been part of their repertoire for more than twenty years: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, which they have even performed with two dancers on stage. From the exquisite initial allegro moderato to the whirlwind of the final vif et agité, at barely 28 years old, Ravel demonstrated brilliantly how to combine formal rigour with rhythmic fluidity, harmonic luminosity and sensuality of expression. The programme is completed by the second of Beethoven’s three “Razumovsky” Quartets, a cycle dedicated to Count Andrey Razumovsky, Russian ambassador to Vienna. The piece includes references to real and imaginary Slavic folklore, as in the scherzo allegretto. In both works, Ravel and Beethoven introduced novel features that would go on to become an essential part of the quartet genre.

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