Cuarteto Quiroga

The ‘exquisite’ and ‘interpretatively fresh’ (New York Times) Cuarteto Quiroga celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2023 and now makes its UKARIA debut. The quartet has become a staple of the European and North American chamber music landscape and is renowned for its distinctive musical personality and charismatic music-making. Cuarteto Quiroga’s extensive discography spans Haydn to Kurtág, and its members are passionate advocates for contemporary string quartet repertoire, regularly collaborating with celebrated composers such as Jörg Widmann and Peter Eötvös. Cuarteto Quiroga’s players speak of their fascination with the string quartet repertoire as a response to music that ‘combines audacity, intelligence, wit and poetry, where the greatest composers, since 1760 until our time, have poured their most bold, experimental, honest and intimate musical discourses.’

This concert, featuring three markedly different string quartets, showcases the genre as a source of compositional inspiration, from Austria to Argentina. Mozart’s String Quartet No. 16 in E flat, K. 428, sees a brilliant young voice paying homage to his friend and mentor Haydn, in a work that mixes harmonic adventures in chromaticism with agile humour and frank expression. Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s first string quartet presents a shocking contrast: composed in 1948 at an artistic turning point in Ginastera’s career, the quartet erupts into being with a first movement allegro violento ed agitator, its ferocity and folk rhythms nodding to both Bartók’s influence and Argentinian musical traditions. The program ends with Brahms’ revered String Quartet in A minor, Op. 51 – a chance to hear one of the great string quartets interpreted by one of the great string quartets at work today.

Aitor Hevia | Violin

Cibrán Sierra | Violin

Josep Puchades | Viola

Helena Poggio | Cello

Broadcast Partner

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
String Quartet No. 16 in E flat, K. 428 [30']

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Andante con moto
III. Menuetto and Trio. Allegro
IV. Allegro vivace

Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983)
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20 [20']

I. Allegro violente ed agitato
II. Vivacissimo
III. Calmo e poetico
IV. Allegramente rustico

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 [34']

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Andante moderato
III. Quasi minuetto, moderato
IV. Finale. Allegro non assai