Four Stradivaris, perfect musical instruments, find four musicians who bring out of them all the height and depth of human emotion that music can express. What unites the Stradivari Quartet is their love of music; what drives them is their enthusiasm to use their musical talent to tell stories. Stradivari instruments are inimitable in their tone. Antonio Giacomo Stradivari (circa 1644 - 1737) lived in the northern Italian city of Cremona. He created instruments to provide a perfect sound to complement the compositions of his time, instruments of a sound quality that remains unmatched to this day. Just the name Stradivari has a special drawing power that promises an unforgettable event. Of 1100 stringed instruments Stradivari created into his old age, around 650 remain.
—The New York Sun
The Swiss Stradivari Foundation lent four exceptional Stradivari instruments to four outstanding musicians who formed the Stradivari Quartet, based in Zürich. After a stunning debut concert the Quartet was celebrated with standing ovations in its hometown as well as on its debut tour to many European cities. What unites them is their love for music; what drives them is their enthusiasm for using their musical talent to tell stories.
Béla Bartók wrote the String Quartet No. 4 in Budapest in 1928, dedicating it to the Pro Arte Quartet.Halsey Stevens, composer and Bartók scholar, wrote, “The fourth quartet comes close to being, if it does not actually represent, Bartók’s greatest and most profound achievement.” Audacious in concept, the work surely occupies a most notable place in twentieth-century music.
Franz Schubert’s String Quartet in G minor No. 9, D. 173, was penned in a scant eight days in the spring of 1815, a year that also saw the completion of two symphonies, two piano sonatas, numerous songs, and a considerable amount of music for the stage. The piece seems to have been conceived with a more domestic inclination; the Schubert family frequently played string quartets together. The piece remained more or less neglected until its public premiere half a century later at a concert in the fall of 1863.
In the pantheon of 20th century Spanish composers Joaquin Turina was the only one to devote a considerable part of his compositional talents to chamber music. He lived and studied music in Paris, where he was encouraged by the likes of D’Indy, Ravel and Debussy. In his brief tone poem for string quartet, La Oración del Torero, the influence of Debussy can be heard. Also, the influence of music of the Andalusian Gypsies is quite evident. The piece became one of the composer’s most popular works, often performed in an arrangement for string orchestra.
The second string quartet by Johannes Brahms, begun in the 1850s, was subjected to countless revisions over the following decades before Brahms finally submitted it for publication in 1873. It was given its premiere in Berlin by the Joachim Quartet in October 1873. The quartet pays homage to Brahms’s good friend, Joseph Joachim, famous violinist and organizer of the quartet of that name.
The Instruments:
Aurea. This violin comes from Stradivari’s “Golden Period” (ca. 1700 - 1720). During this time the master’s genius reached maturity.
King George. This valuable violin dates from 1710 and is named after its owner, King George III, who gave it to a Scottish officer who worshipped it.
Gibson. In 1734,Stradivari, already ninety years old, created this jewel of an instrument, named after an Englishman who was a professor at the Royal Academy.
Bonamy Dobree - Suggia. The English scholar Dobree owned this 1717 cello. Its story begins with the Portuguese cellist Guilhelmina Suggia. The cello was sold after her death and the proceeds used to provide grants for students at the Royal Academy.