Armida Quartett (strijkkwartet)

HEILIGER DANKGESANG

From their first notes in the semi-final it was clear that the Armida Quartett would win the ARD Musikwettbewerb 2012 by a big margin. Their exciting, sensitive playing makes these young Germans the performers Beethoven might have envisioned for his fifteenth string quartet. The well-known ethereal third movement, ‘Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit’, is rightly considered one of the most beautiful adagios in chamber music. Bedřich Smetana’s string quartet, ‘From my life’, is an expression of the composer’s struggle with increasing deafness.

The four young string players are delighted to give us a taste of the 20th century with György Kurtág’s first string quartet.

Armida Quartett: Martin Funda & Johanna Staemmler (violin), Teresa Schwamm (viola), Peter-Philipp Staemmler (cello)