Constanze Quartet

The Constanze Quartet specializes in music by neglected composers. The group has made several recordings for the CPO label. The Constanze Quartet, also known as the Constanze Quartet Salzburg, was formed in that city in 2016. The musicians came together in Salzburg but hail from various countries. The members are first violinist Emeline Pierre Larsen, originally from France but a resident of Salzburg since 2013; second violinist Sara Mayer, a native Austrian who joined the quartet in 2022; violist Elen Guloyan, a native of Armenia trained partly in Germany; and Austrian cellist Julia Ammerer, a member of the quartet since 2020. The quartet is named after Constanze Mozart, the widow of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The group scored breakthroughs with a well-received live performance on Radio France in Paris in 2018 and then with prizes at the Eugène Ysaÿe Competition in Liège, Belgium, and the International Anton Rubinstein Competition in Düsseldorf, Germany. Signed to CPO, the Constanze Quartet released its first album, Felix Draeseke: String Quartets, Volume 1, in 2019. That was followed by a second volume of Draeseke's quartets in 2021. Draeseke, although well known in his own time, is rarely played in the 21st century, and the Constanze Quartet's performing and recording repertory has continued to focus on neglected works. The group's reputation spread after collaborations with members of the Casals Quartet, violinist Rainer Schmidt of the Hagen Quartet, violist William Coleman of the Kuss Quartet, and Milan Milojicic of the Minetti Quartet, as well as other top players. The quartet has made appearances at major festivals and is slated to appear at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg in 2024. The Constanze Quartet has recorded the complete string quartets of Michael Haydn, and in 2023, the group returned on CPO with an album of quartets by 19th century composer Emilie Mayer.
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