Overview
The award-winning Mandelring Quartet is renowned for expressivity and a remarkable homogeneity of sound. Through success at prestigious competitions early on in their career, the Quartet has garnered an international reputation and now has regular concert series at the Berlin Philharmonie and the Residenz in Munich. The ensemble has toured extensively and is frequently invited to perform at leading festivals. Their extensive recordings have received much critical acclaim, with their disc of Shostakovich’s complete quartets being regarded as a benchmark for the repertoire.
They have put together what could be regarded as a ‘classic Mandelring programme’ for their return to Taunton (their last appearance was in 2018) – a carefully curated selection of some of the most admired and greatest chamber works of the Classical and Romantic period: Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Ravel, Debussy, Janáček, Dvořák. A line-up of works that could arguably only be tackled in the space of one weekend by the most experienced of ensembles.
Talks on the music are provided by music writer, lecturer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore. Richard writes for BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone and has taught at Guildhall, Trinity Laban and Birkbeck.
Friday 8 March, 5.30pm
Haydn, String Quartet Op.76 No.2 Fifths
Beethoven, String Quartet No.4 in C minor, Op.18 No.4
Ravel, String Quartet in F
Finish time:c. 7.45pm
Saturday 9 March, 10.30am
Beethoven, String Quartet No.16 in F, Op.135
Dvořák, String Quartet No.12 in F, Op.96 The American
Finish time: c. 12.20pm
Saturday 9 March, 5.30pm
Beethoven, String Quartet No.6 in B flat, Op.18 No.6
Janáček, String Quartet No.1 Kreutzer Sonata
Mendelssohn, String Quartet in D, Op.44 No.1
Finish time: 7.45pm
Sunday 10 March, 10.30am
Debussy, String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
Beethoven, String Quartet No.9 in C, Op.59 No.3 Razumovsky
Finish time: c. 12.30pm
Prices, per person
Two sharing: standard double £1,010; Garden Room £1,230.
Single occupancy: single bedded room £1,010; double for sole use £1,130.
Included
Four concerts, talks on the music, accommodation for two nights, breakfasts, two afternoon teas, two dinners, interval drinks, programme, tips for hotel staff.
Tickets to individual concerts
£30 mornings, £35 evenings. Interval refreshments and a programme are also included. To book these online, please visit this page or contact us.
Start and finish times
The event begins on Friday 8th March with afternoon tea available from 3.00–5.00pm (check in is from 3.00pm). The final concert ends at c. 12.30pm on Sunday 10th March.
Accommodation
The Castle is renowned for its excellent service, for comforts traditional and modern, and for its superb catering. It has been owned and run by the Chapman family for over 60 years. Chamber music events have been held here since 1977, and Martin Randall Travel took over the running of them in 2003.
The hotel’s bedrooms are individually and charmingly decorated. Doubles and twins are mainly of a good size, and the largest – the Garden Rooms – overlook the garden. There is no single-occupancy supplement for the rooms with single beds. The majority of rooms have a bath with a shower fitment.
The hotel has a lift, though some bedrooms are then accessed via stairs. The Music Room is on a mezzanine level, up a flight of stairs from the lobby (and is not lift-accessible).
Taunton lies on the doorstep of Exmoor and the Quantocks, areas with some of the loveliest countryside in England.
Combine with
Connoisseur’s Rome, 26 February–2 March
Tintoretto, Titian & Veronese, 26 February–3 March
Essential Rome, 27 February–4 March
Gardens of Madeira, 2–7 March
Ravenna & Urbino, 11–15 March
‘The Mandelring Quartet are magnificent performers... altogether an extraordinary series of concerts.’