Soup Concert with String Quartet

Alexander Borodin wrote his Second String Quartet as a tribute to his wife, the pianist Ekaterina Protopopova. The music radiates lyrical warmth, affectionate melodies and a graceful, dance-like elegance. Several of the quartet’s themes were later arranged and reused in the Broadway musical Kismet (1953), a tale of cunning and love set in medieval Baghdad.

Before Borodin, we hear music by the British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad (born 1980). She studied cello at the renowned Yehudi Menuhin School and has written a number of works in which string instruments take centre stage.

Her music often moves in a tension between elegance and explosiveness, with shimmering sonorities, rhythmic shifts and volcanic energy. Her Erbsenrondo was composed for the 25th anniversary of the Gregor Mendel Institute in Vienna, which promotes research in plant biology. (Erbsen means peas, and a rondo is a musical form in which a theme returns.)

The string quartet from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra consists of Daniela Bonfiglioli, member of the first violin section, Emma Agnas de Frumerie from the second violin section, Catarina Skoog Aquilonius from the viola section, and Marie Macleod, principal cello and section leader.

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Menu: Green pea soup with salted roasted pumpkin seeds. Served with sourdough bread, crispbread, butter, mineral water/light beer, coffee/tea and a piece of chocolate. Wine and beer are available for purchase.

All soups are lactose- and gluten-free. Please inform us of any dietary requirements when booking.