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Pleyel Quartett Köln - Gaetano Donizetti: String Quartets Nos. 1-3 (2017)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Pleyel Quartett Köln - Gaetano Donizetti: String Quartets Nos. 1-3 (2017)

Pleyel Quartett Köln - Gaetano Donizetti: String Quartets Nos. 1-3 (2017)
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue & Log) ~ 261 Mb | Total time: 55:19 | Scans included
Classical | Label: CPO | # 777 909-2 | Recorded: 2013

The renowned American music magazine Fanfare called the first cpo production featuring Gaetano Donizettis string quartets a compelling demonstration on behalf of some of the most dazzling works of the quartet literature. Now the Pleyel Quartet of Cologne, which during the course of its existence has gained fame above all for its rediscoveries of forgotten masterpieces of the string quartet literature, presents three more quartets by the Bergamo master his early Quartets Nos. 1-3. Performed on original instruments, these quartets offer astonishing examples of Donizettis compositional talent. Since they are obliged to an older ideal, they combine seriousness and delightful sound; both technically and musically, demanding and entertaining elements maintain a balance.

Panocha Quartet - Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76 Nos. 4-6 (1990)

Posted By: tirexiss
Panocha Quartet - Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76 Nos. 4-6 (1990)

Panocha Quartet - Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76 Nos. 4-6 (1990)
EAC | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 1:00:19 | 342 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Supraphon | Catalog: 11 0362-2 131

For all that there are wonderful things in the string quartets preceding this set of six in Op. 76, for me there is a new depth of profundity and invention here, marking yet another step up in Haydn's ceaselessly evolving creativity. Haydn had already composed masterpieces, some dating back thirty years before this; the quality and popularity of many of those such as the "The Joke", "The Razor" and "The Lark" are indicated by the very fact that they acquired those nicknames and in this set of six we have three undoubted chefs d'oeuvre all similarly given labels to denote their originality and appeal.

Arditti String Quartet - Alban Berg: Streichquartett Op.3, Lyrische Suite (2000)

Posted By: tirexiss
Arditti String Quartet - Alban Berg: Streichquartett Op.3, Lyrische Suite (2000)

Arditti String Quartet - Alban Berg: Streichquartett Op.3, Lyrische Suite (2000)
EAC | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 48:44 | 242 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Montaigne | Catalog: MO 782119

Alban Berg wrote twice for string quartet, and both results stand tall in his output. On this Naive disc, a reissue of an earlier Montaigne release, the Arditti Quartet perform these pieces. The lineup of the Ardittis at this time was Irvine Arditti and David Alberman (violin), Levine Andrade (viola) and Rohan de Saram (cello).

Sinfonia Lahti Chamber Ensemble, Peter Lönnqvist - Einar Englund: Piano Quintet and String Quartet (2004)

Posted By: tirexiss
Sinfonia Lahti Chamber Ensemble, Peter Lönnqvist - Einar Englund: Piano Quintet and String Quartet (2004)

Sinfonia Lahti Chamber Ensemble, Peter Lönnqvist - Einar Englund: Piano Quintet and String Quartet (2004)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 54:37 | 241 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | Catalog: BIS-CD-1197

Englund is primarily regarded as a symphonic composer. His seven symphonies and his concertos are the backbone of a substantial output. The majority of his chamber works were composed fairly late, after he returned to composition following a ten-year period of silence. The exception, however, is the Piano Quartet composed in 1941 and slightly revised in the early 1970s.

Borodin Quartet – Vainberg: Quintet & Quartet No. 8 (2005)

Posted By: tirexiss
Borodin Quartet – Vainberg: Quintet & Quartet No. 8 (2005)

Borodin Quartet – Vainberg: Quintet & Quartet No. 8 (2005)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 55:35 | 276 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Melodiya | Catalog: MEL CD 10 00979

Founded at the Moscow Conservatory in 1945 by violist (and later conductor) Rudolf Barshai, the Borodin Quartet survived defections and other personnel changes to become regarded as the leading Soviet (and then Russian) quartet of the second half of the twentieth century. Through Barshai, the student group became closely associated with Dmitry Shostakovich, and its later recordings and concerts of that composer's complete quartets are widely regarded as definitive.

Ensemble Viardot - Louise Heritte-Viardot: Die Drei Klavierquartette (2008)

Posted By: tirexiss
Ensemble Viardot - Louise Heritte-Viardot: Die Drei Klavierquartette (2008)

Ensemble Viardot - Louise Heritte-Viardot: Die Drei Klavierquartette (2008)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 78:13 | 462 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Ars Produk | Catalog: ARS 38 468

"Meisterhafte Klavierquartette Die Komponistin Louis Héritte-Viardot (1841-1918) hat – wenn auch in der Öffentlichkeit wenig bekannt – der Musikgeschichte tiefe Spuren eingeprägt. Weit stärker als ihre berühmten Verwandten, ihre Mutter Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821-1910) und ihre Tante Maria Malibran (1808-1836), zwei der berühmtesten Sängerinnen des 19. Jahrhunderts, hat sie sich mit großer Ausdauer und Disziplin dem Komponieren verschrieben und dabei neben Kammermusikwerken auch die männlich besetzten Domänen von Sinfonie und Oper in Angriff genommen.

Pavel Haas Quartet - Antonín Dvořák: String Quartets Op.106 & Op.96 'American' (2010)

Posted By: tirexiss
Pavel Haas Quartet - Antonín Dvořák: String Quartets Op.106 & Op.96 'American' (2010)

Pavel Haas Quartet - Antonín Dvořák: String Quartets Op.106 & Op.96 'American' (2010)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) - 317 MB | Covers Included | 63:14
Genre: Classical | Label: Supraphon | Catalog: SU 4038-2

Second in popularity only to the Ninth Symphony "From the New World," Dvorák's Twelfth String Quartet – which was dubbed the "American" Quartet by the public and media rather than the composer himself – is a work nearly synonymous with the composer's tenure in the United States. These were not the only two works inspired by his cross-sea voyage, however. The Thirteenth String Quartet in G major, Op. 106, though not imbued with the same folkloric characteristics, also came about following the composer's return from the States. The popularity of the "American" Quartet has resulted in a work that is arguably overplayed, making it difficult for new ensembles to find anything new or unique to say about it.

Camerata Köln - Johann Christian Bach: Flute Quartets, Op. 19 (1998)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Camerata Köln - Johann Christian Bach: Flute Quartets, Op. 19 (1998)

Camerata Köln - Johann Christian Bach: Flute Quartets, Op. 19 (1998)
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue & Log) ~ 278 Mb | Total time: 58:25 | Scans included
Classical | Label: CPO | # 999 579-2 | Recorded: 1997

Dass Johann Christian Bach weitaus mehr als nur ein galanter Unterhaltungskomponist war, hat die großangelegte cpo-Edition seiner Werke wohl schon zur Genüge bewiesen. Die Vielfalt und Kunstfertigkeit seiner Mittel wird aber nicht nur an seiner Orchestermusik deutlich, auch die Kammermusik wird - trotz ihrer Anmut und Gefälligkeit - höchsten kompositorischen Ansprüchen gerecht.

Domus, Richard Hosford - Mozart: Piano Quartets, Kegelstatt Trio (1991)

Posted By: tirexiss
Domus, Richard Hosford - Mozart: Piano Quartets, Kegelstatt Trio (1991)

Domus, Richard Hosford - Mozart: Piano Quartets, Kegelstatt Trio (1991)
XLD | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 76:41 | 298 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Virgin Classics | Catalog: VC 7 91485-2

This recording is over 20 years old, so it's hard to believe that it hasn't been reviewed yet. Domus is long gone, and its members have morphed into the Florestan Trio, but it was a great group, and by the time they recorded these Mozart pieces, they had been together for a dozen years. The music is mature Mozart, roughly contemporaneous with "Le Nozze di Figaro" (1785), and it's superbly played and recorded here.

Raschèr Saxophone Quartet - The Eight Sounds: Works by Sally Beamish, Steven Stucky, Chen Yi (2011)

Posted By: tirexiss
Raschèr Saxophone Quartet - The Eight Sounds: Works by Sally Beamish, Steven Stucky, Chen Yi (2011)

Raschèr Saxophone Quartet - The Eight Sounds: Works by Sally Beamish, Steven Stucky, Chen Yi (2011)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 57:50 | 255 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | Catalog: BIS-CD-1821

The Rascher Saxophone Quartet here present a disc of works specifically composed for them. They are joined by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Robin Engelen in the orchestra's first appearance on BIS. With Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in mind, Sally Beamish uses features of Baroque music but also elements from traditional Scottish music.

Goldner String Quartet - Carl Vine: String Quartets (2012)

Posted By: tirexiss
Goldner String Quartet - Carl Vine: String Quartets (2012)

Goldner String Quartet - Carl Vine: String Quartets (2012)
EAC | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 01:18:06 | 339 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: ABC Classics | Catalog: 4795168

Carl Vine has always been suave. From his early dance scores in
the 1970s (he wrote his first in high school) to his larger orchestral works of the ‘80s onwards, his music has remained assured, tuneful and immaculately crafted. For an artist who’s also helped direct the world’s largest chamber music organisation, Musica Viva Australia, for over a decade, the string quartet seems like his perfect medium. This disc brings together the bulk of his quartets to date: four full works (Nos 2, 3, 4 and 5) and two movements from his first foray into the medium, Knips Suite from 1979.

Chiaroscuro Quartet - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Prussian Quartets (2022)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Chiaroscuro Quartet - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Prussian Quartets (2022)

Chiaroscuro Quartet - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Prussian Quartets (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 373 Mb | Total time: 86:53 | Scans included
Classical | Label: BIS | # BIS-SACD-2558 | Recorded: 2020

After their exciting interpretations of Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert, the Chiaroscuro Quartet now turns to Mozart's Prussian Quartets, his last compositions for this formation. These quartets were written for Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia and amateur cellist, and offer that instrument an unusually prominent role. The first of the three was composed fairly quickly, in June 1789, but the next two were not completed until the following year, and in the end Mozart's plan for a set of six came to nothing. The writing of quartets was never an easy matter for Mozart. However, one would hardly guess that the Prussian quartets were the product of 'exhausting labor' (his own words), such is their beguiling ease of workmanship.

The Heath Quartet - Béla Bartók: Complete String Quartets (2017)

Posted By: tirexiss
The Heath Quartet - Béla Bartók: Complete String Quartets (2017)

The Heath Quartet - Béla Bartók: Complete String Quartets (2017)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 02:37:34 | 709 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | Catalog: HMM 907661.62

The six string quartets of Béla Bartók mark a high point in the genre, and even though their myriad technical demands, rhythmic complexity, and bracing dissonances are no longer obstacles to frequent performance, they still present a major challenge for any string quartet. The Heath Quartet has been performing since 2002, and it has considerable experience with repertoire ranging from Beethoven to contemporary music, though this 2017 set on Harmonia Mundi shows that even after 15 years of music-making, these musicians can still be in awe of Bartók's achievement.

Chiaroscuro Quartet – Haydn: 'Sun' Quartets Op. 20 Nos. 4-6 (2017)

Posted By: tirexiss
Chiaroscuro Quartet – Haydn: 'Sun' Quartets Op. 20 Nos. 4-6 (2017)

Chiaroscuro Quartet – Haydn: 'Sun' Quartets Op. 20 Nos. 4-6 (2017)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 75:08 | 367 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: BIS | Catalog: BIS 2168

This is the second half of a traversal of Haydn's Op. 20 quartets by the Chiaroscuro Quartet, and if you're after just one you can take your pick: both albums feature playing of a very high standard. But really the nature of the set demands hearing both: from the fugal finale of the String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5, to the florid slow movements, to the multifarious sonata-allegros, the quartets of Op. 20 are experimental and even radical.

Maggini Quartet - Britten: String Quartets, Vol.2 (1999)

Posted By: tirexiss
Maggini Quartet - Britten: String Quartets, Vol.2 (1999)

Maggini Quartet - Britten: String Quartets, Vol.2 (1999)
EAC | FLAC (tracks+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 01:04:35 | 257 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Naxos | Catalog: 8.554360

The Third String Quartet is one of Britten's last works before his untimely death and shows that the composer was still at the height of his powers. The music, inspired by the beauty of Venice, begins tentatively with a delicately wistful opening which contrasts with the passionate outburst that follows it. It is tempting to wonder if Britten had intimations of mortality when he wrote this work.