Mozart: String Quartets, K. 387 & 458 (Dedicated to Joseph Haydn) Hagen Quartett

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387 "Spring":
• 1Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387 "Spring": I. Allegro vivace assai08:32
• 2Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387 "Spring": II. Menuetto. Allegro07:58
• 3Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387 "Spring": III. Andante cantabile07:58
• 4Mozart: String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387 "Spring": IV. Molto allegro06:01
• String Quartet No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 458 "The Hunt":
• 5Mozart: String Quartet No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 458 "The Hunt": I. Allegro vivace assai09:20
• 6Mozart: String Quartet No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 458 "The Hunt": II. Menuetto. Moderato04:26
• 7Mozart: String Quartet No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 458 "The Hunt": III. Adagio07:49
• 8Mozart: String Quartet No. 17 in B-Flat Major, K. 458 "The Hunt": IV. Allegro assai06:57
• Total Runtime59:01

Info for Mozart: String Quartets, K. 387 & 458 (Dedicated to Joseph Haydn)

Vienna, 1782. Mozart had not composed a string quartet for almost ten years, a remarkably long period within such a short lifespan. The two string quartets K.387 and K.458 belong to the group of six so-called “Haydn Quartets”. Mozart dedicated the work to his fatherly friend Joseph Haydn, who was in many cases also his great model.To dedicate such works to Haydn in his prime genre, testifies on the one hand to Mozart’s appreciation of his older colleague, and on the other to a high degree of self-confidence. Neither did he refrain from mentioning that these compositions were the “fruit of long and laborious task”.

After an extended tour performing Mozart quartets, the Hagen Quartet went into the recording studio for this new rendition of the two works for myrios classics. This is also the Hagen’s first recording using the ‘Paganini Quartet’ – the only complete set of Stradivarius instruments known to exist today. All four were once owned by Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840).

Hagen Quartett

The Hagen Quartet
has been one of the world’s finest string quartets for many years and in 2021 celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Its most recent concert programmes have included Mozart’s ten great string quartets and Clarinet Quintet, the piano quintets of Shostakovich and Schumann, Schubert’s String Quintet and Jörg Widmann’s Clarinet Quintet. The Hagen Quartet’s concert series with guest artists at the Vienna Konzerthaus focussed particularly on Mozart’s quartets and quintets. The ensemble has toured to (among others) London, Brussels, Munich, Berlin, to the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, to Amsterdam, Wrocław, Barcelona, Madrid and Turin, to the Schubertiades in Hohenems and Schwarzenberg where they performed two concert programmes, to the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, to the Salzburg Festival and to the Lucerne Festival, as well as to the USA and Japan.

The Hagen Quartet’s spectacular career began in 1981 in Salzburg. In its early years the Quartet had great success in competitions, and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Its decades-long collaboration with this label has resulted in numerous recordings, through which the ensemble has developed a vast repertoire and a unique profile.

Since 2011 the Hagen Quartet has worked with the record label myrios classics: its recordings of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet with Jörg Widmann and Mozart’s string quartets received international acclaim from critics, and won prizes including the ECHO Klassik and the Diapason d’Or. In 2019 a recording of Brahms’s Third String Quartet and Piano Quintet with Kirill Gerstein followed.

The Hagen Quartet has been an honorary member of the Vienna Konzerthaus since 2012 and in 2019 won the Concertgebouw Prize for its charismatic artistic contribution to the organization over many years. The Quartet’s attractive and intelligently devised concert programmes cover repertoire from early epochs to Haydn to Kurtág, exploring the entire history of the string quartet. The Hagen Quartet has maintained and intensified its contacts with contemporary composers, both through performing existing repertoire and by giving premieres of new works. Working with artistic personalities such as György Kurtág and the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt has been as important to the Quartet as their joint appearances with fellow performers including Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, the late Heinrich Schiff, Jörg Widmann, Kirill Gerstein, Sol Gabetta, Gautier Capuçon and Igor Levit.

For many young string quartets, the Hagen Quartet is an important role model in terms of sound quality, stylistic diversity, ensemble playing and serious analysis of works and composers in their genre. As teachers and mentors at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, and in international masterclasses, the Quartet’s members take pride in passing on their vast experience to their younger colleagues.

The Hagen Quartet’s members perform on early Italian master instruments.

Booklet for Mozart: String Quartets, K. 387 & 458 (Dedicated to Joseph Haydn)