Schwetzingen SWR Festival: Violets, Spring, Allegretto

The Vision String Quartet plays quartets by Mozart, Shostakovich, and Grieg. They perform standing, play from memory, and in each of their concerts, there is, at least as an encore, a touch of pop or jazz in addition to the official program. Founded in 2012, the Vision String Quartet is an ensemble of a special kind, and one can be curious about what this string quartet boy group from Berlin will bring as a casual addition to the Schwetzingen Palace. But first, we will hear the first of Mozart's so-called Prussian Quartets. The fact that this piece is also known as the Spring Quartet is due to the melody of the slow movement: here, Mozart quotes his own song "Das Veilchen," which in turn goes back to Blondchen's aria "Durch Zärtlichkeit und Schmeicheln" from his singspiel "Die Entführung aus dem Serail." The dominant tempo indication Allegretto in Mozart connects his piece with the seventh string quartet by Dmitri Shostakovich – although here, the initial Allegretto playfulness turns out to be merely a facade. With Edvard Grieg's motivically dense work in G minor, the string quartet ultimately breaks the boundaries of chamber music and conquers symphonic dimensions. And then? Let's be surprised!