Cuarteto Quiroga

The award-winning Spaanse Cuarteto Quiroga has managed to profile itself in recent years as one of the most dynamic and unique quartets of its generation. The quartet enjoys international recognition from critics and the public for its bold and original approach to the string quartet repertoire. What if the lives of many a young and brilliant composer had not been cut off so abruptly? What musical treasures would Purcell, Pergolesi, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Lekeu, Chopin, Bizet, Boulanger of Gershwin have left us, if they had been given the time to further develop and mature? The same applies to the 'prodigy' Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (1806-1826), called the 'Spaanse Mozart', who died at 19 years of age from exhaustion and tuberculosis. Arriaga's genius was already recognized in his time and to this day his short and fruitful life inspires awe and well-deserved admiration. Would he have become one of Europe's greatest composers of the 19th century? His three string quartets, written in Paris when he was 16 years old, stand perfectly alongside what Schubert, Mozart and other great composers wrote at that young age. Arriaga's masterful command of the most demanding music genre, the string quartet, shows a rare talent and confirms his brilliance. Cuarteto Quiroga introduces us to the music of his brilliant compatriot and brings him into dialogue with two grandmasters of the genre: Haydn who developed the string quartet and Beethoven who brought it to unprecedented heights.