New Year’s Concert

In early 2026, the Quarteto Euterpe presented a programme exploring two complementary dimensions of string quartet writing. The first half was devoted to three of Mendelssohn’s Four Pieces for String Quartet Op. 81 — the Tema con Variazioni, the Scherzo and the Capriccio — late works written in the final years of the composer’s life, which distil the full sophistication of his harmonic and timbral language into concentrated, intimate forms.

The second half brought to the string quartet a repertoire more commonly associated with the full orchestra: arrangements of works from the classical New Year tradition, including Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers and Johann Strauss II’s The Blue Danube. Transcribed for four voices, these pieces reveal a dimension of intimacy and detail that the orchestral versions do not allow — one that the chamber ensemble makes uniquely audible. The concert took place in Guimarei on 4 January 2026.