Alpha and Omega

French Quatuor Ébène is known for its versatility. They are as comfortable playing film scores or Beatles arrangements as quartets from Haydn to Ravel. A few years ago, Ébène garnered jubilant reviews with the monster project Beethoven around the world: recordings of all of Beethoven’s string quartets in seven prestigious concert halls. Tonight, they play his First String Quartet. In addition, they will play Tchaikovsky’s Third (and last) String Quartet and a brand new work by composer Raphaël Merlin, who is also Ébène’s cellist. Merlin is a multi-talent. He once composed a cello concerto for internationally-acclaimed cellist Nicolas Altstaedt. This will be Merlin’s first string quartet, and for his very own group: a premiere to look forward to. Incidentally, Beethoven’s String Quartet No 1 was the second quartet he composed, as he had already finished quartet number 3 by then. It is said that for the hauntingly beautiful Adagio, Beethoven was inspired by the dramatic apotheosis at the tomb in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.