Beethoven - Complete String Quartets
£53.15
Currently out of stock at the UK suppliers. Available to order, but is likely to take longer than usual to despatch
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Label: Virgin
Cat No: 0708582
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 7
Genre: Chamber
Release Date: 17th October 2011
Contents
Works
Grosse Fuge in B flat major, op.133String Quartet no.1 in F major, op.18 no.1
String Quartet no.2 in G major, op.18 no.2
String Quartet no.3 in D major, op.18 no.3
String Quartet no.4 in C minor, op.18 no.4
String Quartet no.5 in A major, op.18 no.5
String Quartet no.6 in B flat major, op.18 no.6
String Quartet no.7 in F major, op.59 no.1 'Razumovsky'
String Quartet no.8 in E minor, op.59 no.2 'Razumovsky'
String Quartet no.9 in C major, op.59 no.3 'Razumovsky'
String Quartet no.10 in E flat major, op.74 'Harp'
String Quartet no.11 in F minor, op.95 'Serioso'
String Quartet no.12 in E flat major, op.127
String Quartet no.13 in B flat major, op.130
String Quartet no.14 in C sharp minor, op.131
String Quartet no.15 in A minor, op.132
String Quartet no.16 in F major, op.135
Artists
Artemis QuartetWorks
Grosse Fuge in B flat major, op.133String Quartet no.1 in F major, op.18 no.1
String Quartet no.2 in G major, op.18 no.2
String Quartet no.3 in D major, op.18 no.3
String Quartet no.4 in C minor, op.18 no.4
String Quartet no.5 in A major, op.18 no.5
String Quartet no.6 in B flat major, op.18 no.6
String Quartet no.7 in F major, op.59 no.1 'Razumovsky'
String Quartet no.8 in E minor, op.59 no.2 'Razumovsky'
String Quartet no.9 in C major, op.59 no.3 'Razumovsky'
String Quartet no.10 in E flat major, op.74 'Harp'
String Quartet no.11 in F minor, op.95 'Serioso'
String Quartet no.12 in E flat major, op.127
String Quartet no.13 in B flat major, op.130
String Quartet no.14 in C sharp minor, op.131
String Quartet no.15 in A minor, op.132
String Quartet no.16 in F major, op.135
Artists
Artemis QuartetAbout
The first of the Artemis Quartet’s Virgin Classics CDs of Beethoven Quartets was released in Autumn 2005. Now the complete Beethoven cycle becomes available in a box of 7 CDs which includes two previously unreleased items: the quartet No.10, Op.74, known as the ‘Harp’, and a transcription for string quartet, proudly made by Beethoven himself, of the Piano Sonata No.9, Op.14.
Eckart Runge, cellist of the Artemis Quartet, expresses the players’ views on the composer’s quartets: “His music speaks to every era – it is a perfect dialogue between tradition and modernity, and between intellectual refinement and raw emotion … In relation to the time in which he lived, Beethoven is the most modern, provocative, experimental and boldest composer of all. Many have used the string quartet to experiment, to trial and develop their mode of composition … but none of them was more extreme than Beethoven. Even today, the Grosse Fuge remains one of the most incredible and most modern pieces of music ever written … No matter how complicated the form, one can always find essential human emotion in Beethoven, whether it is hopeful longing, apprehension, exuberant joy or shy affection.”
Beethoven’s extraordinary musical evolution is traced in the cycle, which remains the touchstone of the quartet repertoire. Die Zeit observed that the Artemis Quartet is: “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.”
The Artemis’s second release (Op.59/2 & Op.18/4) was named CHOC of the Year by Le Monde de la Musique and was also awarded a Diapason d’Or; in Germany it became Chamber Music Recording of the Year in the ECHO Klassik awards of the Deutsche Phono-Akademie. In the UK, the Sunday Times praised the “fresh, positive responses” of the Artemis Quartet, saying: “ … their colours are vivid and they are alert to the music’s intent to push all sorts of boundaries to breaking point”, while BBC Radio 3’s CD Review suggested that the recording should go to the top of any list of recommendations.
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