Classical musicians were the rock stars of their day, much like the rock stars of today are the notaries public of tomorrow. Stamp your senses with the finely crafted tunes of today’s Groupon: for $16, you get a ticket to see the Artaria String Quartet on Sunday, December 4, at 3 p.m. at Hamline University in St. Paul (up to a $32 value). The outing includes the following:

• One ticket to Inside Shostakovich’s String Quartets (up to a $17 value)
• One Artaria String Quartet CD (a $15 value)<p>

Currently celebrating their 25th year, the Artaria String Quartet honed their bows under the revered Budapest, Kolisch, and Julliard string quartets before bringing their sweeping chamber music to audiences throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. Presented as part of Hamline University’s Sundin Music Hall series, the two-hour concert will provide sonic samplers from eight movements by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, whose compositions continue to influence the classical-music cognoscenti and purveyors of tiny violins the world over. The quartet’s latest CD is included with today’s Groupon, which allows music buffs to conduct Artaria’s dulcet interpretations of movements by Mozart and Shostakovich in the comfort of their own concert halls or silent sections of their local library.