Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Volume 5

This is the most exciting new disc of string quartet playing that I have come across for a long time — BBC Music Magazine, March 2016 More…

Release Date: 11th Dec 2015
Catalogue No: AUDITE92684
Label: Audite
Series: Quartetto di Cremona Beethoven String Quartets
Length: 80 minutes

BBC Music Magazine

March 2016

Chamber Choice

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Beethoven: String Quintet in C major, Op. 29

Work length35:17

$9.00

$11.60

Lawrence Dutton
Quartetto di Cremona

I. Allegro moderato

Track length10:53

$3.00

$3.85

II. Adagio molto espressivo

Track length10:49

$3.00

$3.85

III. Scherzo. Allegro

Track length4:00

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Presto

Track length9:35

$2.00

$2.60

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132

Work length45:23

$10.00

$12.95

Quartetto di Cremona

I. Assai sostenuto - Allegro

Track length9:56

$2.00

$2.60

II. Allegro, ma non tanto

Track length8:10

$2.00

$2.60

III. Molto adagio

Track length18:13

$4.00

$5.15

IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace

Track length2:11

$1.00

$1.30

V. Allegro appassionato

Track length6:53

$1.00

$1.30

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Audite’s fifth volume of the Complete Beethoven String Quartets presents not only the Op. 132 String Quartet but also Beethoven’s only original String Quintet. Lawrence Dutton, the viola player of the Emerson String Quartet, joins the Quartetto di Cremona.

Mozart left six string quintets to the music world, Louis Spohr’s work catalogue contains seven, whilst Luigi Boccherini completed around 120. Beethoven had three quintets published; however, only one of these was originally conceived for string quintet. However, his opus 29 of 1801 is a true masterwork on the brink between the Classical style of his teacher, Joseph Haydn, and the revolutionary idiom of Beethoven’s middle and late periods. The Adagio (with its adjunct of “molto espressivo”) in particular heralds an evocative intensity which was still foreign in Beethoven’s earlier works. However, by his late oeuvre of the 1820s – the Ninth Symphony, 'Missa solemnis', late piano sonatas and quartets – Beethoven had developed such a distinctive language that the label of 'Early Romanticism' no longer applies. His String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, with its five movements and exceptional degree of difficulty also stands apart from contemporary works; then as now, only professional ensembles could tackle this grandly conceived colossus. As in the quintet, the Molto adagio represents the core of the piece. Its title – “Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity” – refers to an illness from which the composer had recovered, and adapts a chant inspired by the Renaissance composer Palestrina. In so doing, Beethoven includes a musical ancestor in his quartet whilst making a religious avowal.

Reviews

March 2016

This is the most exciting new disc of string quartet playing that I have come across for a long time

CD Review 16th January 2016

Uncompromising; there’s a real muscular energy and biting attack there, almost gritty, grainy sound; very powerful, very impressive … I think this series is a very interesting series, and if you haven’t heard any of the volumes from it you should go back and listen because it’s all very impressive, it’s just building up to be a series to have and to hear … an overwhelming performance.

24th January 2016

Recording the Beethoven strings quartets is a rite of passage for any quartet. The Italian Quartetto di Cremona, still young but together a good decade, has reached that point...the reason to choose this disc is for the other work: the rarely heard String Quintet in C Op 29...The group’s Italianate grace comes into its own in this radiant music

24th January 2016

They play with fervour and flair. If at times in the monumental Op 132 in A minor you long for a degree more weight, more digging into the soil than skittering in the air, the reason to choose this disc is for the other work: the rarely heard String Quintet in C Op 29, with a second viola, Lawrence Dutton, as fifth player. The group’s Italianate grace comes into its own in this radiant music, with its lyrical opening, heartfelt Adagio, blithe Scherzo and fly-away Presto.

Classical Music March 2016

This fifth volume of one of the most impressive cycles to emerge in recent years showcases bold, powerful playing … the entire disc displays unanimity and depth of playing of the very highest order

Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Volume 5

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