Quartet and the pizzicato

HYDERABAD: Twenty three years after it was formed, the Minguet Quartet came to India on its maiden trip.Performing to Hyderabad’s collection of classical music lovers, the Quartet is a fourman construction of string instruments that left the audience grasping in the air for the lilting tones.Comprising of Ulrich Isfort on the first violine, Annette Reisinger on the second, Aroa Sorin on the Viola and Matthias Diener on the Violoncello, the group has been playing in its current formation since 1997, minus Aroa Sorin who joined the team three years ago.Known for their classical romantic pieces and contemporary classical compositions, the contrast they bring out between the genres is a particular challenge they find their musical refuge.“We are four very strong individuals who have come together.And European music as such has a lot of tension in it.So we definitely have our own disagreements.But when it comes to playing, the music and compositions are as such that our parts are very defined and hence we don’t step on each others toes as much,” says the pretty Aroa.Ulrich who started the quartet, picked up the name from the Spanish philosopher Pablo Minguet who’s writings tried to bring classical art to the common folk.“I read his works and was inspired by them.The quartet is also about playing music to anyone and so it made sense to name ourselves after him.,” he explains.So why is it that the quartet is primarily a string quartet? “Germany has a strong tradition of playing strings.My grand father was a violin player and that sort of passed down to me.So I picked up the violin too.Its a sound that we’re very familiar with,” says Ulrich.Matthias has a slightly different story to tell.“My sister used to play the violin.So strings were already there in the house.When I was five or six, my father took me to this concert of this man playing the Cello.He had such a huge charisma as he played that huge instrument, I was mesmerised.He played bass solo after solo and that’s when I knew what I wanted to play.I told my father and he enrolled me a year later because I was too small to handle a cello immediately.” Aroa however quietly admits that the viola was chosen for her because the violin became too small for her to handle.Each of them have had the experience of playing as a part of a larger orchestra.Yet they choose to remain as a simple quartet.Given their strong musical convictions, they find it easier to play as they are.“When playing, its important to be comfortable with the rest of the group.We have found that among us.We’re like a family,” says Ulrich.“We do play with other ensembles from time to time.It keeps things lively among us, as we bring new ideas and experiences to our performance,” adds Aroa.The most interesting aspect of the quartet are their compositions.While they do play the classics of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, they also largely perform Wolfgang Rihm’s compositions, a contemporary German composer.“When you say composer, people usually think of musicians who have passed away.Yet Rihm’s is very much alive and its interesting because, you can talk to him and discuss his compositions with him,” says the second position violin player, Annette.“There have been many times when I’ve wanted to be able to call up Beethoven and ask him what was in his mind when he wrote a particular piece, because I feel it should play differently,” adds Matthias.Either ways, the Minguet Quartet has had quite the journey thus far and have touched upon Hyderabad, leaving the ethereal sounds like a lingering wind chime.