Long relegated to the margins, Felix Mendelssohn’s string quartets are now acknowledged as the most significant quartet cycle between Schubert and Bartók. The A minor, Op. 13 - an astonishing, individual response to the late Beethoven quartets - and the tragic F minor, Op. 80, written in the wake of his sister Fanny's death, are repertoire favourites. Less well-known are the three Op. 44 quartets, whose surface brilliance and polish can too easily conceal their depths. In this talk writer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore explores the music and background of Mendelssohn's quartets, and questions the oft-repeated cliché that the composer's genius declined irredeemably after the brilliance of youth.

Click here for full concert details of our Mendelssohn String Quartet Series.