20 ECHOES OF VIENNA How did you work on the sound texture of this quartet? The six quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn are particularly sophisticated works whose many contrasts must be brought to the fore, exaggerated even. For every musical idea, indeed, every phrase, corresponds to a different character, which could be likened to a fictional persona. Our work focused on the precision of articulation and on the notion of vocality, so evident is the operatic dimension. To play this music, one must become both singer and stage director. This is a concept instilled in us by our various teachers during the course of our training. They encouraged us not to confine ourselves to instrumental playing, but to favour the vibration of sound and to bring out individuality. “Everything must be vocal,” Alfred Brendel, one of our great mentors, would often remind us of this. These precepts, which we have never forgotten, helped us shape our interpretation of this Quartet in D minor, a work we have been exploring since the very beginnings of our ensemble.
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