The young French ensemble Quatuor Van Kuijk makes its Hong Kong debut with two 16th string quartets –by Beethoven and Mozart. Beethoven’s late style was utterly revolutionary – still is today – and Mozart’s famous Dissonance Quartet showed his innovative mettle too, while Poulenc offers the most lyrical of interludes in between. Formed in 2012 and winners of the 2015 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition in London, Quatuor Van Kuijk (QVK) is considered as one of the most promising ensembles of the new generation with playing that is strong and characterful, adding a sense of fun that make each concert so vivid. In addition to being HSBC Laureates of the Académie du Festival d’Aix, the Quartet is one of the European Concert Hall Organisation’s Rising Stars. The Quartet will appear in Europe’s leading concert halls and is currently a BBC New Generation Artist (2015-17). Despite its Dutch-sounding name (after founding first violinist Nicolas Van Kuijk), the Quartet is French, but has quickly forged an international profile while not neglecting the home market: the Quartet is laureates of both the Festival dʼAix-en-Provence and FNAPEC Ensembles’ Music Competition. QVK records exclusively for Alpha Classics: their first release was tonight’s Mozart programme.

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Beethoven, String Quartet No.16, Op.135 Poulenc, 4 Melodies (arrangement Jean-Christophe Masson): C (Louis Aragon) FP122, Fleurs (Louise de Vilmorin), Les chemins de l’amour (Jean Anouilh) FP106, Extrait de Fiançailles pour rire FP101 Mozart, String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465 “Dissonanzen” Nicolas Van Kuijk violin Sylvain Favre-Bulle violin Emmanuel François viola François Robin cello