Tirana hosts concerts to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth

The  250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) will be celebrated with a multitude of events the world over in 2020, although celebrations have already started in some places. Tirana, which is one of the first cities to commemorate the great composer, will host nine concerts that form part of a project developed by the Italian Cultural Institute in the Albanian capital, in partnership with the Albanian University of Arts. Five of the nine concerts are scheduled to be performed in 2019, while the remaining four will take place in 2020. The first concert featured Beethoven’s complete String Quartets along with the String Quintet Op. 29. It was performed by Quartetto di Cremona at the theatre of the University of Tirana. The ensemble exemplifies excellent Italian musical virtuosity and takes its name from the city of the greatest viiolin makers of all time. The quartet plays with instruments manufactured centuries ago in Cremona, and comprises Cristiano Gualco, violin, Paolo Andreoli, violin, Simone Gramaglia, viola and Giovanni Scaglione, cello. In addition to the concerts, the project commemorating Ludwig van Beethoven includes master classes for students of the Academy, and a series of side events on the history of music and its performance, along with technical and practical laboratories on the importance of correctly maintaining string instruments.