Russian virtuosi and a legendary pianist INTRODUCTION Named in honour of the great Soviet-era violinist David Oistrakh (1908-1974), this quartet features four of Russia’s most outstanding musicians. Like Oistrakh almost eighty years earlier, first violinist Andrey Baranov is a winner of the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in 2012. Between them, the four players have won prizes in many of the world’s most prestigious competitions and starred as soloists with such leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. In addition, Fedor Belugin was violist for several years with the famous Shostakovich Quartet. The programme offers profound and well-loved works by masters of the quartet form. Deeply felt Haydn contrasts Shostakovich’s powerful composition dedicated “to the victims of fascism and war”, while virtuosic Paganini caprices complement the quartet Tchaikovsky regarded as his best. This promises to be a memorable concert. Joining forces with the legendary Georgian pianist, Elisso Virsaladze, the Quartet’s first Festival concert brings two major quintets, by Brahms and Schumann. A truly outstanding concert for chamber music lovers. PROGRAMME 20 Feb Elisso Virsaladze and David Oistrakh Quartet Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34 Schumann Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op 44 21 Feb David Oistrakh Quartet Haydn String Quartet, Op 51, Seven Last Words' Introduction Shostakovich String Quartet No 8 in C minor, Op 110 Tchaikovsky String Quartet No 2 in F major, Op 22 Paganini 24 Caprices, Op 1, Nos 20 and 24 (arrangement for string quartet by Fedor Belugin) MUSICIANS Violin Andrey Baranov Violin Rodion Petrov Viola Fedor Belugin Cello Alexey Zhilin Piano Elisso Virsaladze (20 February only)