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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Beethoven: Quartets Opus 18, Volume 1
Third release on the new VIVAT label features the world-renowned Allegri String Quartet in the first of their new Beethoven Quartets series. Beethoven’s remarkable Opus 18 quartets are full of energy and variety, optimistic yet passionate, brimming with invention and enthusiasm. Early Beethoven they may be, but the composer was already a complete master of the quartet, revolutionising the form. The Allegri String Quartet celebrate their 60th anniversary in 2013, making them one of Britain’s longest-established chamber ensembles. Their acclaimed Beethoven series in concert and on CD is a central pillar of their celebrations. Recorded at very high resolution (192kHz, 24-bit) in the well-nigh perfect acoustics of The Menuhin Hall, the recording brings unparalleled clarity and richness to the quartet’s sound. Full-length disc (78’41”) with high quality documentation in three languages. “The Allegri play intensely, but also gracefully; they know when to give the music space...Their tempo for No 3’s andante con moto is actually slower than No 5’s andante cantabile in the same time signature, but I don’t blame them for relishing its beauties. All three finales are brilliant. This is an exhilarating disc.” Sunday Times, 16th June 2013 “The current line-up plays with unforced elegance and cleanness of detail, avoiding heavy gesture in favour of nimble energy.” The Observer, 2nd June 2013 | 
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| |  | Beethoven & Brahms: String Quartets
“A whole lot of beauty in a compact form”: such was the verdict of Theodor Billroth, the dedicatee of the first two quartets by Johannes Brahms. The members of the Gürzenich Quartet accomplish the artistic feat of conveying this beauty in sound without obliging the public – as Billroth had recommended – to prepare for the listening experience with the score and at the piano. |
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| |  | Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 3, 5 & 16
In its 2012/13 season, the Hagen Quartett brings the complete Beethoven string quartets to the most prominent musical centres of the world, including New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Vienna and Salzburg. During the first half of this tour, the quartet went right away from the stage to the studio to record three of their most favourite Beethoven quartets. With Op. 18/3 and Op. 135, the album ranges from the very first to the last string quartet Ludwig van Beethoven wrote. The Hagen Quartet came into being in 1981, soon achieving success in a number of competitions and signing an exclusive recording contract with DG, which over the course of a 20-year relationship produced 45 CDs. Through its long engagement with the inexhaustibly rich quartet repertoire, the Hagen Quartet has developed and retained a distinctive character, not least in its collaboration with such musicians as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, György Kurtág, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, Heinrich Schiff and Jörg Widmann. In 2011 the Hagen Quartet celebrated its 30th anniversary, which was also the start of a new collaboration with the record label Myrios Classics. For the debut album Hagen Quartett 30 (MYR006), the ensemble was awarded the prestigious German ECHO Klassik award in the category Ensemble of the Year 2011. “the Hagen's performance[s] of No. 3 & No. 5...are grim, even fierce, with harsh string tone forwardly recorded...Their virtuosity is up to the skylarks of the second-movement Vivace [of Op. 135] and the third movement” BBC Music Magazine, July 2013 **** “The playing is insightful, probing, masterly.” The Observer, 21st April 2013 |
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| |  | Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 3, 5 and 16
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.” “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” Financial Times, 4th 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.” Andrew McGregor, bbc.co.uk, 13th June 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.” Gramophone Magazine, 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.” International Record Review, July/August 2011  BBC Music Magazine
Chamber Choice - September 2011 |
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The Smithson String Quartet | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Beethoven - The Early String Quartets
“Robert Simpson disagreed with writers who believed that Beethoven's backward glances to Haydn and Mozart in his Op 18 set were so obvious as to distract attention from his own individuality. The Takács disagree, too. They concede the tradition, but those glances are far from obvious. From the beginning this is Beethoven through and through. The opening bars of Op 18 No 1 are soft yet terse. The answering calls are conciliatory, but the suspense is palpable.
And, in a trenchant Allegro con brio, every sforzando is used to raise the tension, especially in the development. There are no concessions to surface beauty, and the message isn't subdued.
The Takács are particular about dynamics. The fortissimo chord near the finish of the slow movement is startling, and the build up from pianissimo is as impressive as the drop back to the end. The Adagio, though directed to be both impassioned and tender, tends to be fervent, while fine inflections to the line ensure that the fairly swift tempo doesn't appear hurried. Conversely, the Adagioma non troppo of No 6 is compassionately slow, but continuously mobile: these musicians don't overlay textures with fatty tissue. Despite wide separation, ensemble is always close-knit. Just how close may be appreciated in the Scherzos, which are tight and cohesive. That of No 4 has, in addition, precise give and take between the contrapuntal lines. The Takács play them in a way that leads the ear on without ignoring the expressive demands of the unusual marking Andantescherzoso quasi Allegretto.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | (Sorry, download not available in your country) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Beethoven: The Early String QuartetsIn Concert at the Library of Congress 1943-1962
The release of this two-disc set completes the Budapest String Quartet's historic Beethoven string quartet cycle, recorded at the Library of Congress's Coolidge Auditorium. Both the middle and late Quartets from this cycle (BRIDGE9099A/C and BRIDGE9072A/C) have frequently been cited as among the finest recordings ever made of Beethoven's singular masterpieces. The present recordings of Beethoven's six Op. 18 quartets were selected from performances given during the Budapest's 22-year long residency at the Library. In addition to the six quartets, a short track drawn from a Budapest String Quartet rehearsal (1944) is included on disc two. “It’s been well worth the wait for these performances. Restoration has done what it can for the boxy originals, but the energy and drive of the playing will make up for that.” MusicWeb International, March 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Quartetto Italiano play Haydn & Beethoven
This is a remastered Quadro Recording of classic recordings by this world renowned string quartet. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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