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Primrose String Quartet: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings

Primrose Quartet

Primrose String Quartet: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings

Awards:

Includes an impassioned account of Haydn’s Seven Last Words (each movement sounding quite unlike its immediate neighbour, which isn’t always the case...Transfer engineers Ward Marston and Mark...

Primrose String Quartet: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings

Primrose Quartet

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3 CDs

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44.1 kHz, 16 bit, FLAC/ALAC/WAV

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320 kbps, MP3

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This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now lossless, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit

Awards:

Includes an impassioned account of Haydn’s Seven Last Words (each movement sounding quite unlike its immediate neighbour, which isn’t always the case...Transfer engineers Ward Marston and Mark...

About

Despite being named after the violist William Primrose, the eponymous quartet was an ensemble of superstar soloists, consisting of Oscar Shumsky (first violin), Josef Gingold (second violin), and Harvey Shapiro (cello). This 3-CD set contains the legendary Quartet’s complete recordings on RCA Victor, made in the early 1940s, just before the American Federation of Musicians’ ban which curtailed the making of recordings in the US for over two years. Besides the first complete recording of Haydn’s deeply reflective Seven Last Words of Christ and an electrifying performance of Smetana’s 'From My Life' Quartet, the set includes the beloved Schumann Piano Quintet, featuring pianist Jesús María Sanromá. Also included in this set are three works that were never issued on 78 rpm records: Mozart’s G-major String Quartet, Brahms’s Third Quartet in B-flat and the Scherzo from Tchaikovsky’s Third Quartet. After an absence of 20 years, this release returns to the Biddulph catalogue in newly refurbished transfers.

Contents and tracklist

I. Allegro vivace assai
Track length5:30
II. Menuetto
Track length7:25
III. Andante cantabile
Track length7:18
IV. Molto allegro
Track length3:44
I. Allegro brillante
Track length8:14
II. In modo d'una marcia. Un poco largamente
Track length8:52
III. Scherzo. Molto vivace
Track length4:14
IV. Allegro ma non troppo
Track length6:49
I. Introduzione. Adagio
Track length5:51
II. Largo
Track length7:17
III. Grave e cantabile
Track length6:29
IV. Grave
Track length7:40
V. Largo
Track length6:37
VI. Adagio
Track length7:12
VII. Lento
Track length6:23
VIII. Largo
Track length7:23
IX. Il terremoto. Presto e con tutta la forza
Track length1:37
II. Allegretto vivo e scherzando
Track length3:25
I. Vivace
Track length6:38
II. Andante
Track length7:37
III. Agitato. Allegretto non troppo
Track length7:47
IV. Poco allegretto con variazioni
Track length8:37
I. Allegro vivo appassionato
Track length6:27
II. Allegro moderato à la polka
Track length5:14
III. Largo sostenuto
Track length9:16
IV. Vivace
Track length5:48

Awards and reviews

  • Gramophone Magazine
    May 2023
    Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month

May 2023

Includes an impassioned account of Haydn’s Seven Last Words (each movement sounding quite unlike its immediate neighbour, which isn’t always the case...Transfer engineers Ward Marston and Mark Obert-Thorn have done an excellent job.

May 2023

The treasure is Haydn’s Seven Last Words… the Primrose set…is handsome in sound and dedicated in terms of interpretation… Schumann’s Quintet with the fine Puerto Rican pianist Sabromá has much to enjoy.
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