Mozart
Quartetto Doré

Quartetto Doré

Ilaria Taioli, violin

Samuele Di Gioia, violin

Salvatore Borrelli, viola

Caterina Vannoni, cello

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)

String Quartet No. 14 in G major, K 387

35' | Ticket €10

In 1770, the Counts d’Arco hosted a young Mozart, who was passing through Mantua with his father Leopold. Within the setting of Casa Mozart, inside the Sala degli Antenati of Palazzo d’Arco, Quartetto Doré will perform the great Salzburg composer’s String Quartet No. 14 in G major, K 387.

This is, in every respect, a tribute both to the venue and to future generations — as suggested by the theme Looking Forward. Composed in Vienna on December 31, 1782, it is the first of the six quartets that Mozart dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), explicitly acknowledging him for having taught him “how to write string quartets.” In the dedication, written in Italian, Mozart speaks of his quartets as though they were his own children, sent out into the world under the protection of his dearest and most celebrated friend.

The opening Allegro vivace assai begins with a theme conceived in four tightly interwoven parts; the Menuetto is far more than a simple interlude, being unusually complex and chromatic. The Andante cantabile unfolds with an exceptional breadth of expression, featuring a second theme in the first violin that recalls the slow movements of Beethoven’s late quartets. The final Molto Allegro intertwines strict counterpoint with the galant style, and its fugal theme would later reappear, in 1788, in the finale of the Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 “Jupiter”.