ConTempo Quartet

Bogdan Sofei, violin
Ingrid Nicola, violin
Andreea Banciu, viola
Adrian Mantu, cello

Mozart - String Quartet in D major K.499 [1786]
Raymond Deane - String Quartet No.7 [2024] †
Dobrinka Tabakova - On a bench in the shade [2004]
Beethoven - String Quartet in C major Op.59 No.3 Razumovsky [1808]

† First performances

Ireland’s longest established string quartet, the ConTempo Quartet, was founded in Bucharest in 1995 and has been based in Ireland since 2003 as Galway Music Residency’s Ensemble in Residence. They were also RTE’s Resident Quartet from 2014 until 2019 and have performed nearly 2000 concerts in 46 countries. Praised as a ‘fabulous foursome’ (Irish Independent) and noted for performances which are ‘exceptional’ (The Strad) and ‘full of imaginative daring’ (The Irish Times), the ConTempo Quartet has forged a unique place in Irish musical life.

Mozart’s D major quartet K.499 is one of the lesser played but its ingeniously intertwined lines create a fascinating and absorbing sound world. Raymond Deane is one of our most celebrated composers and this tour brings the first performances of his seventh string quartet. Dobrinka Tabakova has an ‘unwavering reverence for melody and clarity’ (Gramophone magazine), and her playful quartet On a bench in the shade takes its inspiration from ‘hot summers days, when people gather to talk in the shade’. Beethoven’s C major Rasoumovsky quartet completes the programme, its sparklingly virtuosic outer movements contrasting with a moody funeral march and a quaintly old-fashioned minuet.

Supported by the Arts Council and RTE Lyric FM