Gaetano Donizetti not only was very well acquainted with the Viennese models that then were dominant on the international market; at the latest since his study years in Bologna he had also been familiar with the most important exponents of Italian quartet culture. This is why his string quartets offer valuable insights into his education and early artistic development and are important documents attesting to the existence of a chamber music culture specific to Bergamo. In Quartets nos. 4-6 conventional and innovative elements combine to form an astonishing synthesis. A great many different musical characters are heard in his quartets, which often come across as unconventional in form and tone. It thus may be said that Donizetti composed while feeling “the pulse of the times and that the Pleyel Quartet plays while feeling the pulse of the music. No wish remains unfulfilled. Here Donizetti’s music is performed just as naturally, spiritedly, and entertainingly as it is written.” This is how klassik-heute. com praised our previous CD featuring Quartets nos. 1-3.