CONTRASTS Claire Booth & Ensemble 360

Two utterly different string quartets from two modernist giants who typify the staggering range of fin de siècle classical music.

Separated by a few short years and the turn of a century, this concert features two utterly different string quartets from two modernist giants who typify the staggering range of fin de siècle classical music.

Schoenberg’s visionary second quartet sees Ensemble 360 joined by superstar soprano Claire Booth for a surprisingly accessible and personal work that stretches from the intimate to the interstellar. Debussy’s sensual and impressionistic quartet shimmers with life and light between opening storms and a grand conclusion.

Claire Booth

British soprano Claire Booth has become internationally renowned both for her commitment to an extraordinary breadth of repertoire, and for the vitality and musicianship that she brings to the operatic stage and concert platform. In the 2019-20 season alone her diverse schedule included Benjamin’s A Mind of Winter with The Hong Kong Philharmonic, a streamed 5 star performance of Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine for Grange Park Opera, The title role in Handel’s Berenice for ROH, the critically acclaimed recording of Grieg songs, performances of Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Tippett’s Child of Our Time with the CBSO.

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.

Performers

Ensemble 360 (Strings) and Claire Booth (Sopranot)

Programme

• SCHOENBERG: String Quartet No.2 (31’)
• BERG: Seven Early Pieces (17’)
• DEBUSSY: String Quartet (25’)