Mozart: String Quintets K.515 & K. 516

Quatuor Ebène welcomes a favourite colleague, viola player Antoine Tamestit, for two of Mozart’s six string quintets – No 3 in C major, K 515 and No 4 in G minor, K 516. Their last joint album, ‘Round Midnight, won a 2022 Gramophone Award for its thrilling exploration of diverse strands of 20th century music.  “When a fifth member joins the ensemble it is always cause for celebration,” explains Pierre Colombet, first violinist of Quatuor Ebène, “especially if it’s an additional viola to bring further roundness and warmth to the middle voices: the sound grows in substance and vibrancy – the quartet gains a marvellous complement. And a musician like Antoine always brings new ideas and wisdom to refresh or expand our vision of a work.” Colombet describes K 515 as “radiant and energetic, exuding elegance and grace,” a work in the life-affirming vein of Die Zauberflöte, while K 516 offers “perfection in its counterpoint and the dialogue between the five instruments … already Romantic in spirit, tragic and sometimes sceptical ... We all see it as a peak of achievement in chamber music.”