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Poseidonkvartetten
31. maj - 2. jun.
København
A three-day mini-festival with the Poseidon Quartet, who play the two composers' six string quartets in all.
The musicians tell about the composers' lives and about the woman who had a passionate love affair with both men - Clara Schumann.
The Poseidon Quartet consists of four of our leading chamber musicians and soloists, and since its founding in 2007 the quartet has given numerous concerts all over the country as well as in Sweden and Norway. Likewise, the Poseidon Quartet's CD recordings with, among others, Schumann and Brahms have reaped great critical acclaim.
The quartet's name - Poseidon - is taken from the god of the sea and the forces of nature in Greek mythology, and in their interpretations the four musicians seek precisely to uncover the moods and contrasts of the music, - from wildness, temperament and roaring waves to calm, introversion and a still sea.
We know that in 1853 Brahms, at the age of 20, met Schumann, who was 23 years older, and who became so enthusiastic about Brahms' brilliant talent as both pianist and composer that he proclaimed him 'the messiah of German music' in an article in a music journal, which made Brahms famous overnight, but which also put pressure on Brahms, who was already extremely self-critical.
Schumann became a mentor to the young Brahms, and both men admired each other. Brahms moved in with Schumann and his wife, Clara, and their six children.
The relationship between Brahms, Schumann and Clara ended as the century's greatest love-triangle drama, when Brahms fell in love with Clara, who was 14 years older, while Schumann struggled with depression and mental illness and was admitted to a nerve sanatorium after a failed suicide attempt. The only one Schumann would accept visits from during his stay until his death was the young Johannes Brahms.
Incredibly passionate and deeply expressive music has come out of the complicated and close relationship between the three people, which can be heard in the six fantastic string quartets.
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