The Quatuor Våren, a French ensemble founded in 2017 and already well-established on the international scene, brings a programme dedicated to string quartets from the 19th and early 20th centuries to the LAC. From Schubert to Verdi, from Mendelssohn to Ravel, this journey through dramatic tension, lyrical expression and timbral exploration reveals the infinite expressive possibilities of this repertoire.

Founded by four French musicians and now active between Paris and the major European stages, the Quatuor Våren tackles a programme that spans some decisive moments in the history of the string quartet. At its heart lies a repertoire in which the classical form gradually gives way to a freer, more lyrical and personal style of composition.
Schubert’s Quartettsatz, left unfinished, concentrates in a single movement a dramatic force and expressive density that make it a pivotal work in the composer’s journey towards the great quartets of his mature period. With Verdi, the quartet engages instead with a creative mind from the theatre: the only surviving chamber work in Verdi’s catalogue brings an entirely Italian tension to string writing, balancing formal rigour with melodic élan.
The programme then unfolds into Mendelssohn’s crystalline lyricism and cantabile grace, before arriving at Ravel’s modern sophistication, where the quartet becomes a space of balance, colour and formal precision. The result is a journey rich in contrasts, in which the string quartet moves between dramatic tension, melodic élan and tonal refinement.