Prom 7: Schubert – String Quintet

The first of 2011’s Late Night Proms focuses on Schubert’s stirring String Quintet performed by the Valentin Erben and the Belcea Quartet.

Dating from the last months of Schubert's life, the String Quintet operates on the loftiest plane yet goes straight to the heart.

It is a piece the Belcea Quartet has toured and recorded to great acclaim alongside Valentin Erben, longtime cellist with the Alban Berg Quartet. Corina Belcea-Fisher, first violinist of the Belcea, comments: 'It is a great challenge to capture all the varied emotions of the piece, emotions that can switch from one second to the next. It has been a great privilege for us to explore this work with Valentin, to be able to draw from his resources and his knowledge.'

The ethereal elements of the famous slow movement should chime especially well with the relaxed but raptly attentive atmosphere of a Late Night Prom.

There will be no interval