The last in our series of concerts exploring Mozart’s six string quintets with the Chilingirian Quartet and Prunella Pacey, pairs his final quintets in D and E-flat. Each programme has contrasted Mozart quintets with other famous example of the ‘viola’ quintet medium; this final one features Brahms’s G major Quintet, the second of his two string quintets, composed towards the end of his career in 1890, and intended to be his last chamber work.

For many years Prunella Pacey has been a well-known figure in the viola world. After winning scholarships to the Royal College of Music and the Hochschulen of Vienna and Detmold Prunella performed widely as a soloist and was a finalist in the BBC Viola Competition. Her specialization in the string quartet led to a first prize at the Haydn International String Quartet Competition in Eisenstadt, Austria. She received invitations from the Bay Chamber Players in Maine, U.S.A., to take part in three of their summer seasons and subsequently became Principal Viola of the Royal Northern Sinfonia Orchestra. Having played chamber music since the age of ten, performing in Europe and the U.S.A., she became the viola-player of the Allegri String Quartet with whom she toured extensively and made many recordings.

The Chilingirian Quartet is one of the best-known string quartets based in Britain, with numerous recordings over a three-decade career. Its founder is Levon Chilingirian, born in Cyprus of Armenian descent to a family with a long musical heritage. For over four decades, the Chilingirian String Quartet has thrilled critics and audiences around the world with its vibrant, virtuosic performances of classical and contemporary chamber music. Theirs is a sound that is both powerful and precise; richly interpretive and yet always true to the composer’s vision. Today, the quartet continues to build on its legacy with an energetic touring schedule, an ever- expanding repertoire, and a series of acclaimed recordings for the Hyperion and Chandos labels.