Belcea Quartet Reconnects

RCI London with the Edinburgh International Festival

Masters of classical music in the Scottish capital!

We were proud to return to the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival as a cultural partner, marking the revival of a fruitful relationship after more than a decade, presenting an exceptional chamber music concert featuring the internationally acclaimed Belcea Quartet.

Founded in 1994 by violinist Corina Belcea – one of the most celebrated Romanian musicians on the international classical stage – the Belcea Quartet brought together four outstanding artists united by their passion for string quartet repertoire and their distinctive musical insight: Corina Belcea (violin), Suyeon Kang (violin), Krzysztof Chorzelski (viola), and Antoine Lederlin (cello).

For the Festival performance, the Belcea Quartet revitalised and transformed chamber music from the 18th and 19th centuries, featuring works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Mozart.

Programme:

Mendelssohn - Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81

Mendelssohn - No.4 Fugue in E flat, Op.81 No.4

Mendelssohn - No.3 Capriccio in E minor, Op.81 No.3

Beethoven - String Quartet No.16 in F, Op.135

Mozart - String Quartet No.19 in C, K465 ‘Dissonance’

The Belcea Quartet brought their electrifying energy to a programme of extraordinary string quartets. Spanning Ludwig van Beethoven’s late works, Felix Mendelssohn’s youthful and autumnal moods and Mozart’s ‘Dissonance’ Quartet, their recital left audiences rethinking these familiar works.

Beethoven’s final major work, String Quartet No. 16, surprised and charmed with its cheerful and surprisingly mischievous melodies, while Mendelssohn’s youthful and yearning Capriccio contrasted sharply with his more autumnal Fugue, composed over 16 years later. Even more of a surprise was Mozart’s ‘Dissonance’ Quartet, so-called because of the unusual opening harmonies, which sounded as if they had time-travelled to Mozart’s era from our own.

With precision and passion, this exceptional quartet offered a fresh perspective on these beloved pieces, leaving audiences inspired and invigorated.

This concert was recorded for broadcast by our partners BBC Radio 3.

“Even the trio’s energetic savagery was carefully shaped, while the chromatic lines of the third movement were limpid and beautifully strange”. – The Guardian

Supported by David Millar

The concert took place in the elegant setting of The Queen’s Hall, a historic venue located in Edinburgh’s Southside. Originally opened in 1824 as Hope Park Chapel, and transformed into a concert hall in 1979 by HM Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen’s Hall offered an intimate atmosphere with exceptional acoustics and a seating capacity of 800.

The 2025 Edinburgh International Festival ran from 1 to 24 August, under the theme “The Truth We Seek”. That year’s festival featured 133 performances by over 1,700 artists from 42 nations, including 600 from Scotland. The programme included seven world premieres, eight UK and Scottish premieres, and two European premieres across theatre, music, dance, and opera.

Belcea Quartet was founded in 1994 by violinist Corina Belcea while she was studying at the Royal College of Music, London. The quartet benefitted from mentorship by the renowned Chilingirian and Alban Berg Quartets. Between 1999 and 2001, they were selected for the prestigious BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme and made their debut at Carnegie Hall in 2000. Their first appearance at the Edinburgh International Festival followed in 2001.

The quartet held residencies at London’s Wigmore Hall from 2001 to 2006 and at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Hall between 2017 and 2020. They premiered works by leading contemporary composers, including Joseph Phibbs and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Belcea Quartet’s acclaimed discography featured complete cycles of Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, and Britten quartets, alongside works by Mozart, Schubert, and others. They performed regularly at major international venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Flagey Brussels, and the National Concert Hall Dublin.

Thrilled to resume our partnership with the celebrated Edinburgh International Festival with a superb recital by the acclaimed Belcea Quartet! The beautiful Queen’s Hall in the Scottish capital proved far too small for the incredible crowd that came to soak in the unforgettable atmosphere earlier today.

Big thanks to our colleague Raluca Moisan, our Music & Theatre Programmer, who travelled to Edinburgh for this special project and just sent us these wonderful photos! 📸🎶

Thank you for all the support to Andreea Berechet, Consul general of Romania in Edinburgh, to the wonderful artists and our fantastic partners at EIF.