Music

Bearing the name of the Italian city once home to prestigious 16th century luthiers, Quartetto di Cremona exudes the same perfection and refinement as the Stradivarius instruments on which they play, once owned by Paganini himself and handmade between 1680 and 1736. Two varied programmes display the quartet’s perfect blend of fervent enthusiasm and rigorous sense of musical architecture.

“It’s a rare blend: breadth of sound and capriciousness combined with perfect tuning and ensemble” Gramophone

“Like a quartet of singers with strong personalities” ★★★★★ BBC Music Magazine
“As sleek and elegant as an Armani suit… [they] tailored the music to perfection” The Strad
“Alert, bracing, and racy performances… Worthy keepers of the musical flame that blazes in these powerful instruments” Forbes

Bearing the name of the city once home to prestigious 16th century luthiers, Quartetto di Cremona exudes the same perfection and refinement as the Stradivarius instruments on which they play. Since its formation in 2000, the Italian quartet has garnered widespread approval from festivals and concert halls across Europe, North America and Asia for their “extremely mature and lyrical sound” (The Strad). Their recent release of the complete Beethoven string quartets to near unanimous reviews has contributed to their meteoric rise on the chamber music scene.

Students of the illustrious Quartetto Italiano’s late violist Piero Farulli and ambassadors of the network Friends of Stradivari, the members of Quartetto di Cremona make their HKAF debut on the priceless ‘Paganini Quartet’ Strads, once owned by the legendary Paganini himself and handmade between 1680 and 1736. Their viola, one of thirteen by Stradivari surviving today, is the ‘Mendelssohn’ of 1731、 its beautiful tone colour inspired Paganini to invite Berlioz to compose his much-lauded symphony, Harold en Italie.

Their first programme opens with rarely heard string quartets by lyrical composers Wolf, Verdi and Puccini, contrasted with a breathtaking, almost orchestral quintet by Brahms featuring a second viola. Barber’s moving Adagio for Strings and Bartók’s life-affirming String Quartet No 2 open the second concert, which ends on Beethoven’s String Quartet No 16, composed just months before the composer’s death.