The Mozart Quintets: Five and Two
with Ruysdael Kwartet, Scott Dickinson
17:00 / Tue 1 Febr / Muziekgebouw Main Hall / € 28
Mozart Quintets String Quartet + Viola
Ruysdael Kwartet
Joris van Rijn (viool)
Emi Ohi Resnick (viool)
Gijs Kramers (altviool)
Michael Müller (cello)
Scott Dickinson
Altviool
Mozart
String Quintet no. 5 in D, KV.593
Mozart
String Quintet no. 2 in c, KV.406
Mozart’s second string quintet is actually an arrangement of one of Mozart’s earlier works. Probably because it was an arrangement, Mozart didn’t include it in his catalog at first either. In a way, it almost seems as if Mozart wasn’t quite convinced of the concept of string quintets just yet. Three quintets later, Mozart clearly is convinced: he has elevated the viola quintet to a genre in itself.
It may seem strange, a focus on quintets at a string quartet festival. But it is precisely the perfection of the string quartet – that balanced core of two violins, a viola and a cello – that gave Mozart the basis and inspiration to experiment beyond its boundaries. He added a viola. Ideally, the symbiosis between quartet and violist offers the ultimate chamber music experience.