Two string quartets with soprano form the cornerstone of this Soundings program. Apart from the superficial pairing of two similar ensembles, these are works that both wrestle with the most difficult of human circumstance: betrayal, madness and suicide.

Brett Dean’s examination of the plight of Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Schoenberg’s expression of his own very painful biography in the composition of his 2nd string quartet introduce the elements of objectivity and subjectivity in how we create and experience art. Brett Dean, a longtime member of the Berlin Philharmonic’s viola section, will be a part of the string quartet led by violinist Anthony Marwood and joined by soprano Allison Bell.