University of Florida Performing Arts

There will be a pre-performance discussion for this event at 1:00 p.m.

Program:
Quartet in G Minor, D. 173 – Schubert
La Oracíon del Torero – Turina
Quartet No. 4 – Bartók
Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2 – Brahms

To hear an audio sampling of Stradivari Quartet, click play below: 

The quartet is made up of four extraordinary artists performing on a unique set of Stradivarius instruments provided by the Stradivari Foundation Habisreutinger.The King George Violin (1710), played by Xiao Ming Wang, was named for its owner, King George III. It traveled to Scotland, Germany and Japan before finding its way back to Berlin.  “The King George violin, played by the second violinist, Elisabeth Harringer, has a particularly colorful history. Made in 1710, it was named after King George III, who gave it to a Scottish officer whose motto was reportedly ‘not without my Stradivari.’ He was killed in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, but his hardy instrument survived in his horse’s saddlebag.”In addition to music from across the centuries and periods from 1750 - through classicism to the Romantics and right up to contemporary music – the Quartet, aware that many of the greatest masters wrote commissioned works, is committed to this additional broad musical area. To some extent this constitutes an end in itself: the Stradivari Quartet regularly commissions works and in so doing promotes contemporary composers, creating possibilities for new chapters in the history of music.The Gibson Viola, played by David Greenless, was created by Antonio Stradivari – already 90 years old – with a craftsman-life and artistic vitality, which made it an instrument of unusual tone color and beauty. It is perhaps the most priceless of the instruments of his “Golden Period.”