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With this release of two early quartets and his last completed quartet, the Artemis Quartet rounds off its Beethoven cycle for Virgin Classics. “His music speaks to every era,” they say, “It is a perfect dialogue between tradition and modernity, and between intellectual refinement and raw emotion,”
Beethoven’s extraordinary musical evolution is traced in the cycle, which remains the touchstone of the quartet repertoire. The Artemis’ passionate engagement with the composer’s music was summarised by Die Zeit: “An ensemble that, when compared to groups on a similar level of perfection, seems to approach the repertoire from another horizon. Many quartets convey an air in their playing of rarefied workmanship and detached refinement from the world. They explore the music within the notes. The members of the Artemis come as people who live life, and life is what they seek in Beethoven too.”
String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: I. Allegro
String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: II. Menuetto & Trio
String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: III. Andante cantabile
String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: IV. Allegro
String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: I. Allegro
String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: II. Andante con moto
String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: III. Allegro
String Quartet No.3 in D Major Op.18 No.3: IV. Presto
String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: I. Allegretto
String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: II. Vivace
String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: III. Lento assai e cantante tranquillo
String Quartet No.16 in F major 'Muss es sein? es muss sein!' Op.135: IV. Grave ma non troppo tratto - Allegro
4th June 2011
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“these well-considered readings of two early Opus 18 works respect the composer’s debt to Mozart and Haydn without ironing out Beethovenian temperament. It’s in the Opus 135 quartet, his last, that the Artemis are most in tune with the composer’s questing, undying spirit, in a performance free of mawkish reverence”
Andrew McGregor
13th June 2011
“The Artemis Quartet plays the opening of Op. 135 with rich warmth, classical poise, and just the right kind of reverence...They don’t hurl themselves at the second movement, instead allowing Beethoven’s ingeniously worked rhythms to propel the piece from the inside...The two Op. 18 Quartets here, numbers 3 and 5, are delivered with apparently effortless grace and effervescent athleticism, and the recording frames everything to perfection.”
August 2011
“Their combination of rhythmic control and dynamic accent shapes a line where tensions, relaxations, changes of pace and mood produce a dramatic force that is far from amiable or cheerful...consistently superb ensemble, grounded by a strong cello line and refined by an internal balance where every voice tells...You are always made aware of greatness.”
July/August 2011
“the accounts are eminently musical and stylish...Although these are modern instruments, the Artemis favours an astringent, sometimes vibrato-free tone that seems absolutely right for Beethoven...It certainly makes one want to hear more Beethoven from these players.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
String Quartet No.5 in A Major Op.18 No.5: I. Allegro
