The Mandelring String Quartet launched its most recent album on the 5^th of November 2022, a disc recordedin the Chamber Music Hall of the Cologne Radio Stationand launched at the German record label Audite. Consisting of violinists, Sebastian and Nanette Schmidt, violinist Andreas Willwohl and cellist Bernhard Schmidt, The Mandelring Quartet was founded in the year 1983 in Germany. During its first years of activity the ensemble had won distinguished contests such as ARD International Music Competition organized by the MunchenRadio Stationand the "Paolo Borciani" award in Reggio Emilia, one of the most prestigious contests in the world dedicated to string quartets. Following its success, the ensemble was invited to perform chamber music concerts at major musical centres in Vienna, Paris, London and Madrid as well as in America and Asia. Furthermore, the formation's members have establishedthe Hambacher Festival in the year 1997 in their hometown, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, which would go on to become a gathering place for all enthusiasts of chamber music. The Mandelring Quartet holds a rich discography, consisting of no less than 30 albums with classical, romantic and modern pieces.

The formation's latest disc is the second of a series dedicated to French composers and includes three quartets of the French repertoire, written by Claude Debussy and Jean Rivier - a composer less known in the 20^th century. He lived between 1896 and 1987. He was a professor teaching composition at the Paris Conservatory and wrote a large number of sheet music - symphonies, concerts for various instruments and orchestra, as well as chamber music works, whose style - neoclassical, distinguished itself through its refined harmony, structural clarity, varied sounds and an elaborate use of Counterpoint. The two String Quartets by Jean Rivier debuted on the disc, performed by the Mandelring Quartet. A sophisticated and expressive speech,attention to details and homogeneity - are but a few of the attributes of this great performance by the German ensemble which received notable awards over time for their records - Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics' Award) and was nominated at ICMA (International Classical Music Award).