'Speak Less Than You Know' with guest artist John Bell

This project is innovative performance-led research combining traditional and non traditional approaches and features interdisciplinary collaboration. The collaboration challenges the traditional concepts of a classical string quartet presentation and indeed classical performance art and its dissemination through the exploration of the String quartet repertoire performed alongside spoken word. Beethoven’s compositions are explored more deeply through the biographical lens of his personal letters and in conjunction with wider socio cultural context with eminent actor, and director John Bell AO, OBE. The performance is designed as a musical narrative of love, suffering and redemption and fuses the craft of theatre through readings interspersed with more traditional contributions from the string quartet repertoire. The program features various movements from the 15 string quartets of Beethoven’s coupled with Mendelssohn’s iconic op.13 quartet which bears the indelible influence of Beethoven. The MRC performance was recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM.