Australian String Quartet Tours
The Australian String Quartet returns to Sydney with Beethoven Widmann Beethoven, a concert crossing artistic disciplines and time, in an immersive musical experience with direction by Australian theatre-maker Andy Packer.
The ASQ bookends its program with two of Beethoven’s great quartets, his final quartet, the String Quartet in F major op 135 and the very first quartet written by the wunderkind the String Quartet in D major op 18 no 3.
Between these two transformative pieces is the work of living compatriot, Jörg Widmann, whose String Quartet no 3, Hunt Quartet channels the spirit of Beethoven the innovator. Widmann’s is a work of mischievous iconoclasm; a deeply engaging visceral piece.
The ASQ continues to broaden its vision and make live music experiences more accessible, memorable and monumental. For this concert, the ASQ has engaged award-winning theatre director Andy Packer, best known for his work as director of renowned Slingsby Theatre Company, to bring the stage to life using visual and programmatic direction.
“Beethoven … explored ever more sophisticated ways to draw his audience into the music worlds he was constructing. Likewise, Widmann presents us with a provocatively dramatic composition. Through our presentation of this program we aim to honour these composers’ instincts for inviting the listener, the audience to be drawn into the world of the music, with a light touch, to illuminate the music, not to stand in its way,” says Andy Packer.
The ASQ is based at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music and engages audiences in Australia and overseas in an outstanding program of performances, workshops, commissions and education projects. The Quartet’s distinct sound is created by a matched set of 18th century Guadagnini instruments, handcrafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between c.1743 and 1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy. These precious instruments are on loan for the ASQ’s exclusive use through the generosity of UKARIA.
Dale Barltrop plays a 1784 Guadagnini Violin, Turin; Francesca Hiew plays a 1748-49 Guadagnini Violin, Piacenza; Stephen King plays a 1783 Guadagnini Viola, Turin; Sharon Grigoryan plays a c.1743 Guadagnini Violoncello, Piacenza, ‘Ngeringa’
