What a sparkling start to the new season!

The Carducci String Quartet made an eagerly awaited and welcome return to The Lion Hotel in Shrewsbury on Friday 8th October. A packed audience was treated to a five-star performance in the first of a three-part series entitled "Vienna to Moscow".

They began with Beethoven's string quartet op.18 no.4 - a surprisingly jaunty work from a man struggling to come to terms with his deafness. This was a total contrast to the haunting, fairly short three-movement quartet (no.7) from Shostakovich, written in the depths of loneliness and grief. After the interval, the beautiful 'Death and the Maiden' string quartet from Schubert - with music full of youth and energy, written after a serious illness and knowing that he was dying. He died four years later at just 31. The concert finished with a standing ovation and a lot of smiles, as you can see from the picture! The Carducci Quartet is back at our next concert on Friday, 19th November at 7.30pm in the Ballroom at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury.