Mozart: String Quintets K515 & 516

With Mozart’s String Quintets, K. 515 and 516, the Takács Quartet presents its 21st album for Hyperion. The recording was made in 2025 during concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall. Timothy Ridout can be heard as the second violist, adding a strikingly distinctive voice to the ensemble’s sound, which has evolved over decades. For this internationally sought-after musician, this is his first recording with the Takács Quartet. Composed in 1787, these works hold a special place in Mozart’s chamber music oeuvre. The addition of the viola lends the ensemble greater sonic richness and opens up a richly nuanced interplay among the middle voices. A defining feature is the alternation between passages of transparent line and sections of great harmonic and expressive tension. At the same time, the album marks a significant turning point in the ensemble’s history: after 51 years, founding member András Fejér can be heard for the last time as the Takács Quartet’s cellist on a recording. The international press has praised the quartet for its “passion, poetry, clarity, and balance” (The Times) and “the highest level of artistry” (Prospect). The Daily Telegraph called it the “undisputed best string quartet in the world.”