At the ‘Musique en Sol’ festival in Paunat in the Dordogne to see the internationally-renowned Italian string quartet, Quartetto di Cremona. They played a diverse programme which began with two Italian compositions, Puccini’s short but beautiful ‘Crisentemi’ elegy followed by Verdi’s String Quartet. In the second half, Shostakovich’s String Quartet no. 1 was followed by a wonderfully-played String Quartet no. 2, ‘Intimate Letters’, by Leoš Janáček. An encore from Bach’s Art of Fugue rounded off an extremely enjoyable evening.

Quartetto di Cremona

Puccini ‘ ‘Crisentemi’ movement for string quartet; Verdi ‘String Quartet in E minor’; Shostakovich ‘String Quartet no. 1 in C major’, opus 49; Janáček ‘String Quartet no. 2 ‘Intimate Letters’.