Mozart: Quartets K.387, K.421 & Divertimento K.138 Quatuor Van Kuijk

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): String Quartet No.14 in G Major, K.387:
• 1 String Quartet No.14 in G Major, K.387: I. Allegro vivace assai 07:51
• 2 String Quartet No.14 in G Major, K.387: II. Menuetto 07:40
• 3 String Quartet No.14 in G Major, K.387: III. Andante cantabile 06:58
• 4 String Quartet No.14 in G Major, K.387: IV. Molto allegro 07:40
• Divertimento in F Major, K.138:
• 5 Divertimento in F Major, K.138: I. Allegro 03:44
• 6 Divertimento in F Major, K.138: II. Andante 04:23
• 7 Divertimento in F Major, K.138: III. Presto 02:05
• String Quartet No.15 in D Minor, K.421:
• 8 String Quartet No.15 in D Minor, K.421: I. Allegro moderato 07:44
• 9 String Quartet No.15 in D Minor, K.421: II. Andante 06:37
• 10 String Quartet No.15 in D Minor, K.421: III. Menuetto and trio - Allegretto 03:34
• 11 String Quartet No.15 in D Minor, K.421: IV. Allegretto ma non troppo 09:07
• Total Runtime 01:07:23

Info for Mozart: Quartets K.387, K.421 & Divertimento K.138

After a first disc devoted to Mozart quartets (awarded a ‘Choc de Classica’ and a ‘Diapason Découvert’), a second to French music (Debussy, Ravel and Chausson) and a third to two quartets by Schubert, nos 10 and 14 (the mythical Death and the Maiden), the group founded by Nicholas Van Kuijk returns to its first love by recording more Mozart.

This recording is the second part of an eventual triptych that will contain the sic string quartets dedicated to Haydn no 14 in G major, K387, the first of them, was composed in 1782, when Mozart had just arrived on the Viennese musical scene; no 15 in D minor K421, the second is the only one in the minor mode and was completed in 1783 while his wife Constanze was in labour – she related that the rising intervals of the second movement recalled her cried from the room next door as he composed.

Quatuor Van Kuijk

Van Kuijk Quartet
Founded in 2012, in Paris, the Van Kuijk Quartet recently won the 2015 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition, along with the associated Best Beethoven and Best Haydn prizes.

In the few years since the quartet first formed, they have found success throughout Europe: as well as triumphing at the Wigmore Hall, the quartet won the 1st Prize and Audience Award at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition, in Norway, and are also laureates of the Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy and the FNAPEC Ensembles Music Competition, both in France.

The Van Kuijk Quartet is in residence at Proquartet, Paris, where they study with members of the Alban Berg, Artemis and Hagen quartets. Having taken their first steps as students of the Ysaye Quartet, the young musicians now study with Günter Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Mùsica Reina Sofia in Madrid; their studies take place thanks to the generous support of the International Institute of Chamber Music of Madrid.

The quartet also participates in various academies; they have taken part in the McGill International String Quartet Academy (Montreal) with Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet and André Roy ; the 58th Weikersheim International Chamber Music Academy with the Vogler Quartet and Heime Müller, formerly of the Artemis Quartet; and others academies in Aix-en-Provence and Verbier.

An established presence in major international venues, the Van Kuijk Quartet has performed at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Wigmore Hall in London, and at festivals in Heidelberg, Verbier, Aix-en Provence and Stavanger. This summer, they will take part in the Tivoli Concert Series in Denmark and the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival in Austria.

Booklet for Mozart: Quartets K.387, K.421 & Divertimento K.138