Artemis Quartett

The Artemis Quaret will be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2019. And for those 30 years, without interruption, the quartet has been in the global top league of string quartets.

The world-renowned quartet will perform three incontrovertible genre highlights during its concert in Flagey. The Adagio from Samuel Barber's String Quartet No. 1 has started to lead a life of its own. Ranging from adaptations by DJ Tiësto and Armin van Buuren to soundtracks in films and series like Platoon, The Simpsons and The Elephant Man, to performances at iconic moments like Einstein’s funeral or the commemoration of the Brussels attacks on 22 March 2016; the Adagio grabs you by the throat every time. Schubert's string quartet Death and the Maiden rivals it in terms of renown and emotional charge. The miserable physical, mental and material situation Schubert found himself in during the composition process of the work is palpable in every note. And with his String Quartet No. 2, Benjamin Britten delivered an imaginative, playful and sometimes understated tribute to his compatriot Henry Purcell.

Flagey, Klarafestival

"The interpretation of Artemis Quartet is not only technically on a par with the most virtuosic of their competitors – but it offers as well a higher musical intensity than all the others!" (Joachim Kaiser, Süddeutsche Zeitung)