The Brentano String Quartet plays everything a great string quartet is “supposed” to play—since forming at Julliard in 1992, Brentano has recorded and played Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and, of course, Haydn, the father of the string quartet. Named for the supposed “Immortal Beloved” of a mysterious Beethoven love letter, Brentano has won prestigious awards including the first Cleveland Quartet Award and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award. Called “brilliant, virtuosic, and still mellow” by Los Angeles Times, these dynamos treat masterpieces with reverence and enthusiasm, rendering performances with equal passion and precision.

A crucial note of distinction for Brentano, though, has been a sharp eye for cohesive if counterintuitive programs. The quartet is prone to surprise, often placing the work of relatively unknown composers with the likes of Brahms and Mozart. After more than a decade in residence at Princeton, Brentano Quartet succeeded the storied Tokyo Quartet in residence at Yale University in 2014—another mark of distinction for this consistently engaging quartet.

Program:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
String Quartet No. 16 in E-flat Major, K. 428
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Andante con moto
III. Menuetto & Trio
IV. Allegro vivace

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, “Serioso”
I. Allegro con brio
II. Allegretto ma non troppo
III. Allegro assai vivace ma serioso
IV. Larghetto espressivo - Allegretto agitato

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13
I. Adagio - Allegro vivace
II. Adagio non lento
III. Intermezzo: Allegro con moto - Allegro di molto
IV. Presto - Adagio non lento

Supported in part by Richard and Sarah Bourne