This page lists all recordings of String Quartet No. 1 in B minor, Op. 50, by Sergei Sergeievitch Prokofiev (1891-1953) on CD & download (MP3 & FLAC). Generally, more recent releases are listed first, but with priority given to those that are in stock. |
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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Prokofiev - String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
The Pavel Haas Quartet, one of the very finest chamber ensembles of the present time, earned for their first two CDs of the quartets of Janácek and Pavel Haas numerous prestigious accolades (Classic FM Gramophone Award, BBC Music Magazine Award, Cannes MIDEM Classical Award, etc.). With the Prokofiev pieces featured on this album the Quartet has for the first time entered the field of the Russian (or, if you will, international) repertoire. Prokofiev plunged into writing his first quartet in 1930 during his first sojourn in America on the basis of a commission from the Library of Congress in Washington DC. The “classical” sounding work blends the easily distinguishable inspiration by Beethoven’s quartets and the typically Prokofievian pungency and lyricism. The duet, written in Paris, is an inconspicuous yet masterly small-scale work of art and alongside Bartok’s 44 violin duets ranks among the paramount opuses of this genre. The second quartet came into being in 1941 in the Caucasus, where the Soviet government had moved the artistic elites and their families so as to protect them against the Nazi onslaught. Here Prokofiev came across untouched folk material which he sensitively, humbly and with the precise degree of artistic stylisation incorporated into the “Kabardinian” quartet. Their sheer musicality and ferocious youthful energy make the Pavel Haas Quartet an ideal interpreter of these gems of Prokofiev’s chamber oeuvre. “...a performance of tremendous musical energy: robust, well characterised and exact.” The Independent on Sunday, 17th January 2010 “Their tone is large, quasi-orchestral. They take risks; often they play fast. Above all, they play with passion...Semi-quavers scurry, all sinews showing. Fortissimo attacks blast your socks off...Gloriously invigorating and a great antidote to the winter blues.” The Guardian, 29th January 2010 **** “beautifully performed... fierce intensity and fierce clarity go hand in hand” Sunday Times, 31st January 2010 *** “Prokofiev's Second Quartet is one of the most immediately attractive quartets in the repertoire. In the wondrous Adagio the cello line rises high, ghostly melodic statements in octaves can expose the smallest tuning difficulties and pizzicati needs must sparkle like ice. The young players pass every test before dispatching the inventive finale with equal aplomb... The strenuously wrought First Quartet comes off just as well. The concluding Andante... is rarely tackled with the passion you find here. Of the small clutch of "classic" performances of the component pieces, none is more usefully programmed than the present disc, nor so naturally recorded. Why hesitate?” Gramophone Magazine, March 2010 “there is a fairly high level of intensity in these Prokofiev works for the young Czech players to meet, and they rise vividly to the challenge...it's probably right that [they] feel its ebb and flow with passionate engagement.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2010 ***** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Prokofiev: Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 & Visions Fugitives
The Energie Nove String Quartet is composed of four principal instrumentalists of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. This CD showcases one of Prokofiev’s most famous miniatures, Visions Fugitives. | 
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| |  | Prokofiev: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
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| |  | Russian Generations - Volume 1
The Ruysdael Quartet was formed in 1996 and is appropriately named after the Dutch artist Jacob van Ruysdael, renown for his impressive landscapes and brilliantly lit skies, attributes that can be heard in their intense and impassioned music making. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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“Aurora Quartet gives well-moulded performances.” BBC Music Magazine | | | (also available to download from $6.00) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Nadarejshvili & Prokofiev: String Quartets
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| |  | Haydn, Prokofiev, Shostakovich: The Nevsky Quartet
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| |  | DoelenKwartet - Play It Again!live from de Doelen, Rotterdam
This 3 disc set features performances by the Dutch quartet, the Doelen Quartet. Their repertoire is possibly one of the most diverse of any string quartet. It is not unusual for them to play music by Rihm along side a piece by Beethoven. This release clearly shows why the quartet is regarded as one of the most outstanding quartets around today. 3 CD's for price of 2 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Gramophone Awards 2010
Gramophone Magazine