43. Young Musicians Series

This music was written in fire

Olympia Quartet is the second Cork-based young Quartet taking part in the Festival masterclasses. It is encouraging to see such an enthusiastic young Quartet.

They have chosen to play two intense quartets. Mendelssohn’s last quartet was written after the sudden and unexpected death of his beloved sister, Fanny. The emotions aroused after her loss lead him to cast aside his normal restraint and to unleash his anger and his sorrow in extraordinarily powerful music.

Janáček’s Second Quartet invites us into the torrid imagination inspired by the seventy-year-old composer’s unrequited relationship with Kamila Stösslova, whom he transformed into his creative Muse. This erotic celebration of love is a daring, even revolutionary work that replaces traditional forms with a swirling juxtapositions of themes in dramatically contrasted moods. Above all it is a work that continues to seduce both musicians and audiences.