This concert offers an exceptionally rare opportunity to hear five of the finest string-players alive today combining for a performance of two of the greatest masterpieces in the repertory. All five of the players in this all-Schubert concert are at the pinnacle of their profession. Violinist Isabelle Faust and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras are already familiar to Camerata Musica audiences; and they are join here by three other outstanding luminaries of their instruments: violinist Anne Katharina Schreiber, violist Antoine Tamestit and cellist Christian Poltéra.

They perform two late, major chamber works of Schubert: his final string quartet, and his only string quintet ¾ to many, the greatest of all Schubert’s compositions ¾ written in the last months of Schubert’s tragically short life. In this period, as Schubert reckoned with his own mortality, he produced ever more profound and urgent musical utterances, and these two works show a striking variety of rage against and acceptance of his fate. 

Regular collaborators in a variety of chamber ensembles, these musicians have received the highest praise for their recordings and performances as a group: ‘Tremendous, played with rapt sensitivity and the kind of collegiate music-making that only comes with musicians that know and trust each other deeply’ (MusicWeb International). ‘Isabelle Faust and her colleagues achieve miracles of coordinated flexibility, making the ultimate advance into [the music’s] serenely shimmering coda a truly magical experience.’ (Gramophone). ‘By any standards this is chamber music playing of the highest class’ (The Guardian). ‘Hearing these pieces played with such consummate artistry is a genuine revelation.’ (BBC Music Magazine).