Hagen Quartett at Palais im Großen Garten Dresden

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.