Consone Quartet and period keyboard specialist, Steven Devine, join forces to present a beautiful Romantic programme of Chopin and Brahms on an 1875 Érard piano from London.
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) - Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, No. 2 (
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
I Allegro non troppo
II Andante, un poco adagio
III Scherzo: Allegro
IV Finale: Poco sostenuto - Allegro non troppo - Presto, non troppo
Steven Devine combines a career as a conductor and director of orchestral, choral and opera repertoire with that of a solo harpsichordist and fortepianist. He is Conductor and Artistic Advisor of The English Haydn Festival; Music Director of New Chamber Opera, Oxford and Director of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s “Bach the Universe & Everything” series.
He is the Principal Keyboard with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and performs regularly with many other groups around Europe. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Chandos Records) wa described by Gramophone magazine as “among the best”. He is currently engaged in recording the complete harpsichord works of JL Krebs, Bach’s favourite student.
Steven Devine was educated at Chetham’s School of Music before reading Music at St Peter’s College, Oxford.
The first period instrument string quartet to be selected as BBC New Generation Artists, the Consone Quartet are fast making a name for themselves with their honest and expressive interpretations of classical and romantic repertoire.
Their debut recording of Haydn and Mendelssohn was described by The Strad as an album “that instantly leaps out of the stereo at you as something special.” This year they released their first album from a new partnership with Linn Records, recording the complete string quartets of Felix Mendelssohn.
Formed at the Royal College of Music in London, the Consone Quartet launched their professional career in 2015, shortly after which they were awarded two prizes at the 2015 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition. They went on to win the 2016 Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Prize, and in 2022 were awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) fellowship.
The quartet has been enthusiastically received at London’s Wigmore Hall, King’s Place, St John’s Smith Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields, and at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Brighton, and Buxton Festivals, amongst others. The English Haydn Festival and and York Early Music Festivals have been loyal supporters over the past few years and regularly host the group.
Further afield, Consone have been invited to perform at the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival, Philharmonie de Paris and Auditorium de Lyon, at the Concertgebouw Brugge, AMUZ and de Bijloke in Belgium, Concerts d'été à St Germain in Switzerland and at other venues across Italy, Austria, Bulgaria and Slovenia. Following a tour to South America in 2018 they made a highly anticipated North American debut in February 2023.
The Consone Quartet enjoys a rich portfolio of collaborative partnerships, most recently including Justin Taylor, Steven Devine, Alexander Gadjiev, Anneke Scott, Mary Bevan and Colin Lawson. Music education remains a core interest to the group, having worked with students at the Royal College of Music in London, Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as Hans Keller fellows for 2020-2022.
This year's projects include the premiere of a new work by Gavin Bryars for string sextet, debuts at the Heidelberger Streichquartettfest and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany and tours to Belgium, Canada and Poland.