Berliner Philharmoniker Konzertmeister II

After yesterday's quintets for strings and with clarinet, tonight it's the turn of Mozart's two quartets for piano and strings. Although Mozart composed only two opuses for this quartet, K 478 and 493 remain the pinnacles of the genre, the Romantic era having cultivated the trio or quintet form with the piano to a greater extent. From the outset Mozart explored all the possibilities of the very special genre of the piano quartet, still in a chamber form but already with the spirit of the concerto.

Wagner became enthusiastic about Schumann's Piano and String Quintet and opened up to its author by writing: "Your Quintet, my very dear Schumann, pleased me greatly. I can see what you are aiming at, and I assure you that I am aiming at much the same sort of thing: it is our only salvation: beauty!'' A journey between fantasy and discipline, between a scherzo molto vivace and a funeral march before leaving for a final allegro. Grandiose and the first romantic masterpiece of the genre, this quintet was later performed by Brahms, Dvořák and César Franck.

COREALISATION Piano**** / Théâtre des Champs-Elysées