Beethoven - String Quartets Op.18 Vol.1
£11.35
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Label: Vivat
Cat No: VIVAT103
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Chamber
Release Date: 10th June 2013
Contents
Works
String Quartet no.3 in D major, op.18 no.3String Quartet no.4 in C minor, op.18 no.4
String Quartet no.5 in A major, op.18 no.5
Artists
Allegri String QuartetWorks
String Quartet no.3 in D major, op.18 no.3String Quartet no.4 in C minor, op.18 no.4
String Quartet no.5 in A major, op.18 no.5
Artists
Allegri String QuartetAbout
The 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.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1String Quartet in C minor op.18/4 - I.Allegro ma non tanto
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2String Quartet in C minor op.18/4 - II.Andante scherzoso...
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3String Quartet in C minor op.18/4 - III.Menuetto: Allegro
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4String Quartet in C minor op.18/4 - IV.Allegretto
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5String Quartet in D major op.18/3 - I.Allegro
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6String Quartet in D major op.18/3 - II.Andante con moto
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7String Quartet in D major op.18/3 - III.Allegro
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8String Quartet in D major op.18/3 - IV.Presto
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9String Quartet in A major, op.18/5 - I.Allegro
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10String Quartet in A major, op.18/5 - II.Menuetto
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11String Quartet in A major, op.18/5 - III.Andante cantabile
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12String Quartet in A major, op.18/5 - IV.Allegro
Europadisc Review
To celebrate their special anniversary, and as if to demonstrate the group’s renewed musical identity and confidence, they are tackling perhaps the greatest peak of the string quartet repertoire: a complete Beethoven cycle, with a planned performance of all the quartets in Engadin, Switzerland, this September. In the meantime, this first recorded instalment appears on the recently-launched Vivat label, and it’s a highly impressive start, as well as another feather in the cap of this fledgling label.
The three Opus 18 quartets selected to form Volume 1 of the project seem almost purposely designed to demonstrate the Allegris’ versatility, from the Sturm und Drang intensity of the C minor Quartet (No.4), to the expansive lyricism of the D major (No.3) and the tongue-in-cheek humour of the A major (No.5). As Robert Hanson points out in his booklet notes, the string quartet genre under Haydn and Mozart had only achieved maturity some twelve years or so before Beethoven wrote this music in the late 1790s, yet the younger composer’s first forays into the medium are already wonderfully assured, masterly and unmistakably his own.
The Allegri Quartet achieves an ideal balance between classical poise on the one hand and the music’s more unsettling qualities on the other. The playing is light and nimble, but successfully brings out the startling Beethovenian accents, the sudden surges in the C minor Quartet, as well as the edgy, animated wit of the finales. The Andante movements of the D major and A major quartets are superbly done, with plenty of swagger in the latter’s variations, while the minuets have an appealing earthiness.
The Allegris’ deployment of vibrato is sweet, focused and concentrated, but never overbearing. The recording itself, made in the Menuhin Hall, Stoke d’Abernon, in April 2012, has a hint of dryness that serves to enhance the music’s intimate qualities, without ever being too close: the sort of privileged perspective that Prince Lobkowitz, the music’s dedicatee, might well have experienced in private performance. Inner textures and details are vividly but tastefully captured.
All in all, this is a most encouraging start to a cycle that should be well worth following.
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