Dresdner Musikfestspiele: Farewell Tour of a quartet legend — Hagen Quartett & Julia Hagen

About the Event

An era is coming to an end: after an unprecedented career that began in the 1970s, the Hagen Quartet will bid farewell to the concert stage in 2026. The ensemble has made string quartet history and is a great role model for many young formations. The concert by this legendary sibling ensemble (only one of the four quartet members is not named Hagen) will feature a special highlight in the form of Franz Schubert's unsurpassed string quintet, which will feature not only Julia Hagen, a young star who has won numerous awards, but also the daughter of the quartet's cellist. So it stays in the family! The String Quartet Op. 54, which will be performed at the beginning of the evening, was dedicated by Joseph Haydn to a whimsical Viennese chamber music patron named Joseph Tost, who was usually hired for the performances, and who in fact played first violin at the premiere of this piece. Beethoven's last completed composition, his String Quartet No. 16, is also dedicated to a wealthy patron. It is a masterful work full of profound emotions and subtle expressiveness.