In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.
This box set from the Artemis Quartet marks Virgin Classics’ first complete cycle of Beethoven String Quartets. Over the past two seasons, the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet has been performing Beethoven around the world, prompting reactions such as this one, from Die Zeit: “The members of the Artemis come as people who live life, and life is what they seek in Beethoven too.”
The first of the Artemis Quartet’s Virgin Classics CDs of Beethoven Quartets was released in Autumn 2005. Now, nearly six years later, the complete Beethoven cycle becomes available in a box of 7 CDs (TBC) which includes two previously unreleased items: the quartet No 10, op 74, known as the ‘Harp’, and a transcription for string quartet, proudly made by Beethoven himself, of the Piano Sonata No 9, op 14.
The 2010-11 season has seen the Artemis Quartet continuing with its two-year focus on live performances of Beethoven. By the end of the season, the ensemble will have recently performed Beethoven quartets in, among other cities, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, London, Paris, Brussels, Rome, Milan, Florence, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston and Los Angeles, and at the Schubertiade festival in Schwarzenberg (Austria).
Eckart Runge, cellist of the Artemis Quartet, expresses the players’ views on the composer’s quartets: “His music speaks to every era – it is a perfect dialogue between tradition and modernity, and between intellectual refinement and raw emotion … In relation to the time in which he lived, Beethoven is the most modern, provocative, experimental and boldest composer of all. Many have used the string quartet to experiment, to trial and develop their mode of composition … but none of them was more extreme than Beethoven. Even today, the Grosse Fuge remains one of the most incredible and most modern pieces of music ever written … No matter how complicated the form, one can always find essential human emotion in Beethoven, whether it is hopeful longing, apprehension, exuberant joy or shy affection.”
Beethoven’s extraordinary musical evolution is traced in the cycle, which remains the touchstone of the quartet repertoire. Die Zeit observed that the Artemis Quartet is: “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.”
The Artemis’s debut release on Virgin Classics in 2005 comprised Beethoven’s op 59/1 and op 95, while the second release brought together op 59/2, the ‘Razumovsky’ Quartet, and the Quartet op 18/4. In France, the release was named CHOC of the Year by Le Monde de la Musique and was also awarded a Diapason d’Or; in Germany it became Chamber Music Recording of the Year in the ECHO Klassik awards of the Deutsche Phono-Akademie. In the UK, the Sunday Times praised the “fresh, positive responses” of the Artemis Quartet, saying: “ … their colours are vivid and they are alert to the music’s intent to push all sorts of boundaries to breaking point,” while BBC Radio 3’s CD Review suggested that the recording should go to the top of any list of recommendations
String Quartet No.1 In F Major Op.18 No.1: I. Allegro Con Brio
String Quartet No.1 In F Major Op.18 No.1: II. Adagio Affettuoso Ed Appassionato
String Quartet No.1 In F Major Op.18 No.1: III. Scherzo (Allegro Molto) & Trio
String Quartet No.1 In F Major Op.18 No.1: IV. Allegro
String Quartet Op.18 No.4 In C Minor: I Allegro Ma Non Tanto
String Quartet Op.18 No.4 In C Minor: II Andante Scherzo Quasi Allegretto
String Quartet Op.18 No.4 In C Minor: III Minuetto (Allegretto)
String Quartet Op.18 No.4 In C Minor: IV Allegro
String Quartet Op.18 No.6 In B Flat Major: I. Allegro Con Brio
String Quartet Op.18 No.6 In B Flat Major: II. Adagio Ma Non Troppo
String Quartet Op.18 No.6 In B Flat Major: III. Scherzo. Allegro - Trio
String Quartet Op.18 No.6 In B Flat Major: IV. La Malinconia. Adagio - Attacca
String Quartet Op.18 No.6 In B Flat Major: V. Allegretto Quasi Allegro
String Quartet No. 2 In G Major Op. 18 No. 2: I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 2 In G Major Op. 18 No. 2: II. Adagio Cantabile
String Quartet No. 2 In G Major Op. 18 No. 2: III. Scherzo (Allegro) & Trio
String Quartet No. 2 In G Major Op. 18 No. 2: IV. Allegro Molto, Quasi Presto
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.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. 7 In F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 7 In F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: II. Allegretto Vivace E Sempre Scherzando
String Quartet No. 7 In F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: III. Adagio Molto E Mesto
String Quartet No. 7 In F 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 1: IV. Allegro (Thème Russe)
String Quartet No. 8 In E Minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 8 In E Minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: II. Molto Adagio
String Quartet No. 8 In E Minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: III. Allegretto
String Quartet No. 8 In E Minor 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2: IV. Finale (Presto)
String Quartet No. 9 In C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: I. Introduzione (Andante Con Moto) - Allegro Vivace
String Quartet No. 9 In C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: II. Andante Con Moto Quasi Allegretto
String Quartet No. 9 In C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: III. Menuetto (Grazioso) & Trio
String Quartet No. 9 In C 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 3: IV. Allegro Molto
String Quartet Op.74: I. Poco Adagio - Allegro
String Quartet Op.74: II Adagio Ma Non Troppo
String Quartet Op.74: III. Presto
String Quartet Op.74: IV. Allegretto Con Variazioni
String Quartet No. 11 In F Minor Op.95: I. Allegro Con Brio
String Quartet No. 11 In F Minor Op.95: II. Allegretto Ma Non Troppo
String Quartet No. 11 In F Minor Op.95: III. Allegro Assai Vivace, Ma Serioso
String Quartet No. 11 In F Minor Op.95: IV. Larghetto Espressivo - Allegretto Agitato - Allegro
String Quartet No.12 In E Flat Major Op.127: I. Maestoso - Allegro
String Quartet No.12 In E Flat Major Op.127: II. Adagio Ma Non Troppo, Molto Cantabile
String Quartet No.12 In E Flat Major Op.127: III. Scherzando Vivace
String Quartet No.12 In E Flat Major Op.127: IV. Finale
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Op. 131: I. Adagio Ma Non Troppo E Molto Espressivo
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Op. 131: II. Allegro Molto Vivace
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Op. 131: III. Andante Moderato
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Op. 131: IV. Andante Ma Non Troppo E Molto Cantabile
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Op. 131: V. Presto
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Op. 131: VI. Adagio Quasi Un Poco Andante
String Quartet No. 14 In C Sharp Minor Op. 131: VII. Allegro
String Quartet Op.130 In B Flat Major: I. Adagio Ma Non Troppo - Allegro
String Quartet Op.130 In B Flat Major: II. Presto
String Quartet Op.130 In B Flat Major: III. Poco Scherzoso. Andante Con Moto Ma Non Troppo
String Quartet Op.130 In B Flat Major: IV. Alla Danza Tedesca. Allegro Assai
String Quartet Op.130 In B Flat Major: V. Cavatina. Adagio Molto Espressivo
String Quartet Op.130 In B Flat Major: VI. Grosse Fuge Op.133. Ouverture. Allegro - Meno Mosso E Moderato - Allegro
String Quartet Op.14: I. Allegro Moderato
String Quartet Op.14: II. Allegretto
String Quartet Op.14: III. Allegro
String Quartet No. 15 In A Minor Op. 132: I. Assai Sostenuto - Allegro
String Quartet No. 15 In A Minor Op. 132: II. Allegro Ma Non Tanto
String Quartet No. 15 In A Minor Op. 132: III. Molto Adagio
String Quartet No. 15 In A Minor Op. 132: IV. Alla Marcia, Assai Vivace
String Quartet No. 15 In A Minor Op. 132: V. Allegro Appasionato
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
1st January 2012
“their playing of the fugue [of Op. 130] is so staggering that this version must be heard. And their view of these quartets as a glimpse into the composer’s private emotional “diary” is compelling, especially in the late quartets, which they rightly treat as avant-garde music — as shockingly modern today as it was in Beethoven’s lifetime.”
Click here for alternative recordings of this work.
String Quartet No.1 In F Major Op.18 No.1: I. Allegro Con Brio