28 Feb.

Music by Bartok, Hindemith and Shostakovich. This top class string ensemble was founded in the early 1990s when its members were still students at the Conservatory Benedetto Marcello in Venice.

It has a broad repertory with emphasis on the Venetian baroque school of music, but on this occasion presents a programme of 20^th-century music. Although the line-up has changed slightly, one reason the Quartetto has achieved acclaim is that the musicians have been performing together for 20 years. Violinists Andrea Vio and Alberto Battiston  and cellist Angelo Zanin began their collaboration as music students in Venice. Together with violist Giancarlo di Vacri who joined more recently, they have achieved a quality that is equivalent to operatic "bel canto."

Accademia Filarmonica Romana. Concert at Teatro Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina 5. Info tel. 063201752, www.filarmonicaromana.org.