The Quartet Gerhard embarks on an ambitious project to perform all fifteen String quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the most remarkable achievements in 20th-century chamber music. Written over nearly four decades, these works trace the Russian composer’s artistic development and reveal a musical world of extraordinary emotional depth. For this opening concert, the Catalan ensemble will perform three quartets of contrasting character: String Quartet No. 5, distinguished by its structural sophistication and expressive intensity; String Quartet No. 7, the shortest of the cycle, composed in memory of his first wife; and String Quartet No. 8, one of his best-known and most deeply affecting works. A journey through the many facets of Shostakovich’s musical language, demanding exceptional virtuosity and a profound sense of connection between the four performers.