Quatuor Mosaïques


The Quatuor Mosaïques is an Austrian string quartet, founded in 1987 by Erich Höbarth, Andrea Bischof, Anita Mitterer, and Christophe Coin, four members of the Concentus Musicus Wien who play on historical musical instruments. The name of the quartet refers to mosaics and is intended to reference the way details impact on the complete work of art. They specialize in music of the 18th century.
The three Austrian musicians and the French cellist Christophe Coin got to know each other in Vienna as members of Concentus Musicus working under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. With their shared experiences as a starting point, they decided to form a classical string quartet playing on period instruments. The primary aim was not to create the sort of ‘authenticity’ that belongs in museums, but rather to ensure in their work a living link to the great European quartet tradition. Hence an essential inspiration for the group was the Végh Quartet, of which Erich Höbarth had been a member for its last three years.
The Quatuor Mosaïques has received the Gramophone Award for its interpretations of Haydn. It has given concerts with pianists András Schiff and, clarinettists Wolfgang and Sabine Meyer, and cellists Miklós Perényi and Raphaël Pidoux.
In 2006 the Quatuor was invited to Spain to play the quartet of Stradivari instruments belonging to the Spanish Crown. It presented a programme of quartets by Arriaga at the Royal Palace in Madrid, which was subsequently recorded on CD. The Quatuor Mosaïques' very extensive repertoire includes rarely performed works by Pleyel, Tomasini, Werner, Jadin, Gross, Boëly, Schumann, and Brahms. It has performed works of the early twentieth century, by composers such as Debussy, Bartók and Webern.

Discography

The group's first recordings were on the Astree label of Michel Bernstein. The Quatuor's discography includes works by Arriaga, Beethoven, Boccherini, Boëly, Haydn, H. Jadin, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert.
  • Albrechtsberger, Entre ciel et terre
  • Arriaga, Trois quatuors à cordes
  • Beethoven, Quatuors à cordes nos 1 - 6, op. 18
  • Beethoven, Quatuors à cordes nos 12 - 16
  • Boccherini, Quintettes avec piano, op. 56 et 57 et « dédiés à la Nation Française » - Quatuor Mosaïques et Patrick Cohen, piano-forte,
  • Boëly, Trio en ut majeur, op. 5 n° 2 - Quatuor à cordes n° 1 - Mélodie pour violoncelle n° 2 en mi majeur - Sextuor en ré majeur - Quatuor Mosaïques, Christophe Coin, Éric Lebrun, orgue
  • David, Troisième quatuor en ré mineur
  • Johann Benjamin Gross - – Balade Romantique
  • Joseph Haydn — repris en coffret de 10CD :
  • * Quatuors opus 20
  • * Quatuors opus 33
  • * Quatuors opus 64
  • * Quatuors opus 76
  • * Quatuors opus 77
  • * Les sept dernières paroles de Notre Rédempteur sur la croix
  • Hyacinthe et Louis Emmanuel Jadin, Trois quatuors à cordes : op. 3 n° 1, op. 2 n° 1; Quatuor n° 2,
  • Mendelssohn, Quatuor à cordes, op. 12 et 13
  • Mozart — Les quatuors étant repris en coffret de 4CD :
  • * Quatuor à cordes 18 et 19
  • * Quatuor à cordes K 387 et 421
  • * Quatuors à cordes K 499 et K 589
  • * Quatuors à cordes K 575 et K 590
  • * Quintette avec clarinette K 581; Trio « les quilles » K 498 - Wolfgang Meyer, clarinette; Patrick Cohen, hammerflügel
  • Schubert :
  • * Quatuors à cordes nos 1 & 13 opus 125/D87 et opus 29/D 804 « Rosamunde »
  • * Quatuor à cordes « Der Tod und das Mädchen », D 810; Quatuor à cordes, D 173
  • Woelfl, Quatuors à cordes op. 4 n° 3 et op. 10 nos 1 & 4 - sur des instruments du luthier viennois, Franz Geissenhof

Founding (and current) members