Hagen Quartett at Palais im Großen Garten Dresden

Dresden, Palais im Großen Garten — Main Hall

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About the Event

Goethe’s famous definition of the string quartet – »One hears four rational people conversing with one another, and believes one gains something from their discourse« – is rarely so convincingly embodied as by the Hagen Quartet, originally founded in Salzburg in the 1970s by four siblings, three of whom are still members and as passionate as they have ever been about the quartet form. For their concert at the Palais im Großen Garten, this exceptional ensemble has chosen two of Mozart’s »Prussian Quartets«, which were – supposedly – commissioned by the Prussian King Frederic William II. Whether or not that is true, they certainly represented a great step towards equality between the four voices of the string quartet. In addition, Shostakovich’s penultimate string quartet will be heard, first performed in Leningrad in 1973, and cheerful and pensively serious in equal measure.

Program

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus – String Quartet No. 14 G‐major K. 387 (»Spring«)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus – String Quartet in D Minor, K. 421
Shostakovich, Dmitri Dmitriyevich – String Quartet No. 14 in F‐sharp major, op. 142

Program is subject to change

Artists

Quartet:

Hagen Quartett

The Hagen Quartet is made up of three members of one Salzburg family — Lukas, Veronika and Clemens Hagen — and the German violinist Rainer Schmidt, who joined the quartet in autumn 1987, replacing Annette Bik. The three Hagens studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum: Veronika and Lukas were students of Helmut Zehetmair; Clemens's teacher was Wilfried Tachezi. Rainer Schmidt studied in Germany, Canada and the USA, where he attended the Cincinnati Conservatory under the tutelage of Walter Levin and Dorothy DeLay. Hatto Beyerle, Heinrich Schiff and Oleg Maisenberg also played important roles in the artistic development of the musicians. The meeting with Nikolaus Harnoncourt helped to expand their field of musical vision, as did the friendship and artistic relationship with Gidon Kremer, who has regularly involved the ensemble in his chamber‐music projects at the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival.

Lukas Hagen, 1st violin
Rainer Schmidt, 2nd violin
Veronika Hagen, viola
Clemens Hagen, cello