Mozart: String Quintets Nos. 3 & 5 Kuss Quartet & Sào Soulez Larivière

• Enno Poppe (b. 1969): Aufstrich:
• 1 Poppe: Aufstrich 01:39
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515:
• 2 Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515: I. Allegro 12:49
• 3 Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515: II. Menuetto Allegretto – Trio 05:44
• 4 Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515: III. Andante 09:12
• 5 Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515: IV. Molto Allegro 07:24
• Rebecca Saunders (b. 1967): Kiss:
• 6 Saunders: Kiss 05:01
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quintet No. 5 in D Major, K. 593:
• 7 Mozart: String Quintet No. 5 in D Major, K. 593: I. Larghetto – Allegro – Larghetto 09:42
• 8 Mozart: String Quintet No. 5 in D Major, K. 593: II. Adagio 06:52
• 9 Mozart: String Quintet No. 5 in D Major, K. 593: III. Menuetto: Allegretto 04:48
• 10 Mozart: String Quintet No. 5 in D Major, K. 593: IV. Allegro 05:21
• Total Runtime 01:08:32

Info for Mozart: String Quintets Nos. 3 & 5

The renowned Kuss Quartet continues its complete recording of Mozart’s string quintets with No. 3 in C major, K. 515, and No. 5 in D major, K. 593. Sào Soulez Larivière can be heard on second viola. As with the first album in this series, the Mozart works are framed by two short contemporary pieces commissioned by the Kuss Quartet specifically for these recordings: Enno Poppes’ ‘Aufstrich’ and Rebecca Saunders’ ‘Kiss’.

Sào Soulez Larivière, viola
Kuss Quartet

Sào Soulez Larivière
Franco-Dutch violist Sào Soulez Larivière is quickly building himself a thriving career as a versatile musician. Captivating audiences with his playing and original programming, he endeavours to broaden the accessibility and perception of classical music in our modern world.

He was named as the 2023 'Young Artist of the Year’ by the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), and was nominated as ‘Rising Star’ by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO), which will see him perform in Europe’s most prominent concert halls during the 2024/25 season.

These achievements build on his growing international career, propelled by recent competition successes, including first prize at the 2023 Prague Spring International Competition, along with top prizes at the Tokyo, Oskar Nedbal, Max Rostal, Cecil Aronowitz, and Johannes Brahms competitions.

Chamber music has always been at the heart of Sào’s musical upbringing, sharing his love for music with his sister, violinist Cosima Soulez Larivière, with whom he still regularly performs. He is also a member of the Frielinghaus Ensemble, which has released several critically acclaimed albums.

An advocate for expanding the horizons of the viola repertoire, he enjoys arranging works for his instrument as well as promoting contemporary music. Collaborating with renowned composers such as Fazil Say, Thomas Adès, Olli Mustonen and Julia Wolfe has given him the unprecedented opportunity to delve deeper into the creative side of music.

Born in Paris in 1998, Sào began his musical journey playing the violin, and at a young age received a scholarship to study with Natasha Boyarsky at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. It was there that he discovered the viola through chamber and orchestral music, deciding to fully commit to the instrument in his later school years.

His artistic development has been deeply enriched by working with many distinguised musicians such as Jean Sulem, Nobuko Imai, Antoine Tamestit, Boris Garlitsky, and Steven Isserlis.

Based in Berlin, Sào completed his Bachelor of Music under Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik 'Hanns Eisler'. He earned a Master’s Degree at the Kronberg Academy, where he is currently enrolled in the Professional Studies programme.

Teaching has become a great passion in Sào’s musical life, and he is thrilled to have been appointed professor of viola from autumn 2023 at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.

He has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the 'Ritter Preis' on behalf of the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation and the Fanny Mendelssohn Förderpreis, which enabled him to release his debut album, Impression.

Sào is also a scholarship holder of the Yehudi Menuhin 'Live Music Now' e.V. Berlin, and served as a Classeek Ambassador for the 2023/24 season. He has received generous support from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz Foundation. For 2024-26, he will participate in the Günther Caspar-Stiftung Career Advancement Programme.

Sào plays a viola made in Montpellier in 2013 by Fréderic Chaudière.

Since 2022, he has been studying at Kronberg Academy with Tabea Zimmermann, funded by the Leber patronage.

Kuss Quartet
Everything remains different – constant change is the only certainty of our time. This is exactly where the Kuss Quartet comes in: with courage and a passion for discovery, it initiates new programs and formats, transforming contemporary themes into art. The quartet draws its strength equally from a spirit of experimentation and a devotion to the classical repertoire from Haydn to Schubert. In doing so, it captivates both traditional and innovation-loving audiences, opening ears to the unknown. The Kuss Quartet thus stands for both: innovation and tradition – and both in excellence.

In doing so, it has been setting new standards for many years, and not only through its programming: concept albums, commissioned compositions, cross-genre formats, and collaborations with artist collectives are among the hallmarks of the Kuss Quartet. The musical journey began in 1991 with the two violinists Jana Kuss and Oliver Wille. Together with William Coleman (viola) and Mikayel Hakhnazaryan (cello), the ensemble will celebrate a quarter-century of international stage presence in 2027.

At the beginning of its career, the Kuss Quartet was awarded first prizes by the Deutscher Musikrat and at the Borciani Competition, received a Borletti-Buitoni Award, and was named a 'Rising Star' by the European Concert Hall Organisation. In 2019, the ensemble became the first German string quartet to be loaned the legendary Paganini Quartet of Stradivari instruments by the Nippon Music Foundation. At the invitation of Suntory Hall Tokyo, the quartet performed Beethoven’s complete string quartet cycle on these instruments. The resulting live recording was enthusiastically acclaimed by the press: 'One of the most interesting complete recordings of the ever-incredible Beethoven string quartets, which always seem shockingly new and as if just invented when understood and played by an outstanding ensemble,' praised the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Following the successful concept albums Krise and FREIZeit, the ensemble set new standards in 2025 with Schubert’s Death and the Maiden: the visionary pairing with works by Iris ter Schiphorst and Mark Andre was honored with the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice. In 2026, the Kuss Quartet receives the prestigious International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for the world premiere recording of works by Ernst Gernot Klussmann. In the current season, the quartet is dedicating itself to a three-part album project featuring Mozart’s string quintets, dialogically mirrored by contemporary miniatures ("Postcards to Mozart") by Manfred Trojahn, Enno Poppe, Rebecca Saunders, Isabel Mundry, Sarah Nemtsov, and Matthew Shlomowitz. The first album, released in spring 2026 and recorded together with violist Muriel Razavi, has already sparked enthusiastic press acclaim: SWR Kultur praises the quartet’s "untamed energy and presence" as well as their "meticulous perfection in detail," while Pizzicato magazine commends their "unique expressiveness and stylistic confidence.

The Kuss Quartet has commissioned and premiered numerous new works. Consequently, the string quartet repertoire has grown steadily through compositions by Enno Poppe, Aribert Reimann, Manfred Trojahn, Bruno Mantovani, Iris ter Schiphorst, Johannes Fischer, Mark Andre, Francisco Coll, and Mauro Montalbetti. In 2025, the quartet premiered Sara Glojnarić’s new work Songs for the End of the World alongside soprano Sarah Maria Sun in Witten; in July 2026, this was followed by the world premiere of Johanna Maria Staud’s String Quartet No. 2, Cahier des équilibres mouvants, at the Carinthischer Sommer festival. Commissioning partners for these works have included the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, the Paris Biennale, Wigmore Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

The Kuss Quartet regularly collaborates with artist collectives to transcend genre boundaries, such as in the KUSS@KOKON project featuring dancers Yui Kawaguchi and Ruben Reniers, percussionist Johannes Fischer, and slam poet Bas Böttcher. The ensemble maintains a close and ongoing partnership with the music and dance theater collective Nico and The Navigators. Their joint Beethoven project Force & Freedom was produced and broadcast as a music film by ARTE TV in 2022. This successful collaboration continued in 2025 at Radialsystem Berlin with the music theater production Quartett zum Quadrat, which interweaves Heiner Müller’s play Quartett with the late string quartets of Leoš Janáček. Regular musical partners also include artists such as Miklós Perényi, Dénes Várjon, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Maurice Steger, and Alexander Lonquich.

Today, the Kuss Quartet inspires the next generation through numerous masterclasses and holds teaching positions at leading European music academies: Oliver Wille is a professor of string chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover, William Coleman serves as a professor of viola and chamber music at the Mozarteum Salzburg, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan teaches chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, and first violinist Jana Kuss is a guest lecturer at renowned institutions such as the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden and the Accademia Perosi in Biella, Italy.

Booklet for Mozart: String Quintets Nos. 3 & 5