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. 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 Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus. 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.[1]

The Quatuor Mosaïques has received the Gramophone Award for its interpretations of Haydn. It has given concerts with pianists András Schiff and Patrick Cohen, 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 Cuartetos 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, Jadin, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert.

Founding (and current) members
  • Erich Höbarth (violin, J. Guarnerius filius Andreae, Cremona 1705)
  • Andrea Bischof (violin, 18th century French)
  • Anita Mitterer (viola, Girolamo Devirchis, Brescia 1588)
  • Christophe Coin (cello, C.A. Testore, Milano 1758)

References
  1. Kerstin Unseld [SWR2 (Südwestrundfunk Kanal 2], December 16, 2009. Das Zweite ist das Erste. "Für die Streichquartett-Kultur erwies sich dieses Zusammentreffen von Erich Höbarth, Andrea Bischof, Anita Mitterer, und Christophe Coin als ein Glücksfall, blickt man auf die mittlerweile mehr als 20 Jahre zurück, in denen die vier Concentus Musicus-Mitglieder als Quatuor Mosaïques auf den Konzertbühnen international gastieren und Erfolge feiern… Dabei stand nie eine museale 'Authentizität' im Vordergrund, vielmehr sollte die lebendige Verbindung zur großen europäischen Quartett-Tradition spürbar werden. So gingen vom legendären Végh-Quartett, dessen Mitglied Erich Höbarth drei Jahre lang war, wesentliche Impulse aus: Letztes Ziel jeder Interpretation sollte sein, den inneren geistigen Reichtum der Musik zu offenbaren." Retrieved January 12, 2019.


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