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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 16, 17 & 21
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mozart: Prussian Quartets
Debut recording for SONY from one of the world’s greatest string quartets. The Emerson String Quartet stands alone in the history of string quartets as musicians of unrivalled eminence with an incomparable list of great recordings over three decades. For its debut on Sony Classical, the Quartet has selected Mozart’s last three string quartets, the “Prussian” quartets. Having recorded Mozart's six "Haydn Quartets" as well as the flute quartets, the Emersons have long desired to add more Mozart to their discography. This new album sees them recording Mozart quartets for the first time in 20 years. “the elegant flow of the musicians’ fingers brings both pleasures and perils. As always, there’s considerable comfort in the certainty of pitch, the warm colours, the general air of civilised ease, matched to music of high artistry. But with this ease comes some further blurring of detail.” The Times, 28th October 2011 *** “Their aim, 'to strive for elegance, beauty and style', results in interpretations that are technically impeccable and immaculately presented but also subjectively neutral...These barriers to full communication are however eased for K590, where less restricted sound shows the group in a better light. Polished playing is now complemented by improved tonal gradations and more yielding phrasing in both the first and third movements.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2011 “There was a time when the Emersons' Mozart was more about sparkling brilliance and textural cleanliness than interpretative fantasy, but nowadays they are more inclined to take their time and imbue their classicism with greater humanity and affectionate warmth. Particularly in the glorious 21st, one senses that this is music that they not only admire but are deeply moved by.” Classic FM Magazine, December 2011 **** “the Emerson Quartet play them very much as they would in a large concert hall: in a powerfully 'projective' manner, with resonant tone, continuous vibrato, well drilled rhythms and, sometime, explosive accents.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 **** “The Emerson musicians give plain-speaking performances - a little more cosseting wouldn't have gone amiss though...It was a good choice to have these three works on one disc, and the Emerson's choice of repeats makes this possible” International Record Review, January 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Mozart: String Quartets KV 575 & 590
Mozart’s final four quartets have a sublime quality. Two of these appear here, and the classic recording of KV575 receives its first international appearance on CD. Over the years Rainer Küchl became the VPO’s first concertmaster and his quartet has evolved to a point where only he remains from the four who recorded back in 1975. These youthful performances, well recorded by Decca and quite modern in style show a full awareness of the Viennese tradition. | 
| | | Scheduled for release on 15 July 2013. Order it now and we will deliver it as soon as it is available. |
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| |  | Stuyvesant Quartet play Brahms & Mozart
The Stuyvesant Quartet, founded in 1938 by the brothers Sylvan and Alan Shulman (first violinist and cellist), is heard in a superb reading of one of Johannes Brahms's greatest chamber creations |
| | | Scheduled for release on 1 July 2013. Order it now and we will deliver it as soon as it is available. |
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| |  | Mozart: The Last String Quartets
If it is a cliché to refer to Mozart’s last four string quartets as ‘unjustly neglected’, they have nonetheless been overshadowed not only by Mozart’s own ‘Haydn’ quartets but also by his quintets and the late quartets of Joseph Haydn. The neglect robs us of better acquaintance with some extraordinary music in Mozart’s rich late style. The composer’s contemporaries, by contrast, were quick to recognise the special virtues of these quartets. On 30 November 1791 – just six days before Mozart’s death – one commentator wrote of the String Quartet in D K499 (the other three are K575, 589 and 590): ‘[This quartet is] written with that fire of the imagination and that correctness which have long since won for Herr Mozart a reputation as one of the best composers in Germany. [It is in] four movements, and even the minuet is composed with an ingenuity (being interwoven with canonic imitations) that one frequently finds wanting in other such compositions, even by famous masters.’ Mozart’s last string quartet, K590 in F, furnishes an exuberant conclusion to the composer’s writing in this genre, and even more than the others exhibits many features of Mozart’s late style, not least in its dazzlingly elegant counterpoint. In these classic 1970s recordings, the Juilliard String Quartet explore in depth the intricate emotional power and beauty of this sublime music. |
| | | Scheduled for release on 1 July 2013. Order it now and we will deliver it as soon as it is available. |
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| |  | The Kolisch Quartet (1929-1937)
John Barrows (horn), Domenico Caputo (horn), Hortense Monath (piano), Benar Heifetz (cello), Eugene Lehner (viola), Rudolf Kolisch (violin) Kolisch Quartet | |
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| |  | Mozart - String Quartets Nos. 20 & 21
The Klenke Quartet is one of the leading German Ladies’ Quartets of today, and the individual volumes have been highly recommended by critics all over the world. Their sound is fresh and critics admire them for their ability to combine musical intelligence with expressive intensity and fine nuances of colour with a wonderful feeling for atmosphere. “The all-female, Weimar-trained Klenke Quartett, an unusually homogeneous ensemble, play [the quartets] with delicacy and brio, though a slightly broader tempo for K499’s adagio might have made more of the sublime passage leading to the reprise.” Sunday Times, 11th May 2008 *** | | | (also available to download from $10.75) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Skampa Quartet
‘The quartet’s dynamic approach was breathtaking. The beauty of their playing stems from deep musical intelligence’ (The Independent) “…Mozart's final Quartet is not exactly the easiest of openers. Yet the Škampa Quartet delivers a beautifully natural and effortless account, revelling in the subtleties of contrapuntal interplay so characteristic of Mozart's last works. In Smetana's intense Second Quartet, the Škampa are particularly compelling... The second movement Polka is a notable highlight, projected with a really bold swagger.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 ***** “Smetana's pain-wracked D minor Quartet is here give the wiry intensity and urgency it obviously demands but too rarely receives, taken to the point of roughness but never pushed over the edge.” Gramophone Magazine, Janurary 2008 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Mozart - Six String Quartets
Studio recordings from 1951-52 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Mozart - QuintetsVolume 3
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