Hagen Quartett in Sjostakovitsj en Mozart

Hagen Quartet

They were once known in Austria as the 'Hagen children': four virtuoso brothers and sisters. More than four decades later, the Hagen Quartett still enchants the world's stages. Nowadays with adopted brother Rainer Schmidt on violin it performs classical quartets. "Their precision and flexibility makes their interpretations fresh," wrote the Washington Post . A few years ago, the Hagen Quartett won the Concertgebouw Prize.

Mozart and Shostakovich

Today the Hagen Quartet performs Mozart surrounded by Shostakovich. They chose Mozart's String Quartet No. 22 , one of the 'Prussian', created in the year before his death. The work is graceful, but above all adventurous and often witty. In the Second and Sixth String Quartets you will hear two different stages of Shostakovich's life. The former quartet is rich in color and contrast and explores all kinds of musical influences, including those from klezmer. The later is very compact and darker in tone. Shostakovich remembers his deceased wife and ends the quartet with a slightly disturbing waltz.