Quartets Archive
SHOSTAKOVICH: Sonatas for Violin and Viola – Duo TschoppBovino – Genuin
SHOSTAKOVICH: Sonatas for Violin and Viola – Duo TschoppBovino – Genuin 16428, 62:29 (6/6/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ****: (Mirjam Tschopp – violin & viola/ Riccardo Bovino – piano) Challenging and desolate late works of Shostakovich (just in case you need some sobering up.) If there were a Rotten Tomatos Index for 20th century chamber music, one […]
“The Clarinet in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Solo to Quartet” – Music of ERNESTO CAVALLINI, DOMENICO SCARLATTI & others – Stark Quartet – Tactus
“The Clarinet in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries from Solo to Quartet” – Music of ERNESTO CAVALLINI, DOMENICO SCARLATTI & others – Stark Quartet – Tactus TC890001, 62:14 [Distr. by Naxos] (11/11/16) ***: Very nice playing in this collection for the true enthusiast. There is a decent amount of repertoire (well, pretty large actually) for […]
PORTER: String Quartets Nos. 7, 5, 6, 8 – Ives String Q. – Naxos
The first volume of Quincy Porter quartets bespeaks a master of a contrapuntal, personal idiom.
“GEORG CHRISTOPH WAGENSEIL: Six Quartets for Low Strings” = Sonata No. 3 in C Major, “Suite des pieces”; Sonata No. 2; Sonata No. 4; Sonata No. 6; Sonata No. 5; Sonata No. 1 – Piccolo Concerto Wien – Accent (2 CDs)
Elegant music that straddles a stylistic fence between the pre-Classical and Classical eras.
BARTÓK: String Quartet No. 1; String Quartet No. 3; String Quartet No. 5 – Euclid Quartet – Artek
There’s always room for one more excellent interpretation of Bartók’s great music for string quartet.
VAGN HOLMBOE: Concertos = Concerto for Viola; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Violin No. 2 – Lars Anders Tomter, viola/ Erik Heide, violin/ Nörrkoping Sym. Orch./ Dima Slobodeniouk – Dacapo
Inspiriting music from Denmark’s great neo-Classicist.
ANDERS KOPPEL: String Quartets; Quintet – Dacapo
A magnificent disc of new chamber music by the Danish composer Anders Koppel, highlighted by a deliciously inventive Quintet for Mezzo Saxophone and String Quartet.
HAYDN: String Quartets Op. 33 Nos. 1-6, “Russian” – Borodin Quartet – Onyx 4069 (2 discs)
Bright-eyed and efficient performances that don’t at all slight the deeper sentiments of Haydn’s soulful largos.
“Tastes of Europe: TELEMANN & PROWO: Trios & Quartets” = Ensemble Meridiana – Linn
An enticing musical experience.
BOGUSLAW FURTOK (b. 1967): Quartets 2 & 5 for doublebass quartet; Three Pieces for Four Basses – The Flying Basses – Zuk Records
Composer Furtok has provided music of a very high class (i.e., tonal), indeed.
HANS GÁL: The Complete String Quartets = Vol. 1: Quartet No. 1 in F Minor; Quartet No. 4 in B-flat Major; Improvisation, Variations, and Finale on a Mozart Theme; Quartet No. 2 in A Minor; Quartet No. 3 in b minor; 5 Intermezzi – Edinburgh Q. – Meridian
It’s good to see Hans Gál getting more of the attention he deserves these days.
HAYDN: String Quartets Vol. 10 = String Quartets Op. 64 Nos. 1–6 – Auryn Quartet – Tacet (2 CDs)
These are polished, urbane performances that are also full of the sheer joy of music-making.
IVES: String Quartet No. 1; String Quartet No. 2 – Juilliard String Quartet – Columbia/Sony Classical
Whatever subjective firmament Ives contemplates, it certainly challenges our more “placid” preconceptions.
MICHAEL HAYDN: Quartet in F Major for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello; Quartet in D Major for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello; Divertimento for Flute, Horn, Violin, Viola, and Cello; Divertimento for Horn, Viola, and Violone – var. soloists – Camerata
The two Divertimenti have the quiet wit and charm of Michael Haydn’s symphonies.
BARTOK: Six String Quartets – Hagen Quartet – Newton Classics
These 1995 and 1998 performances of the complete Bartok string quartets remind us of Bartok’s two sources of musical debt–to Beethoven and to Debussy.
LifeMusic III = SEBASTIAN CURRIER: Next Atlantis; PIERRE JALBERT: Icefield Sonnets; PAUL MORAVEC: Anniversary Dances; LOWELL LIEBERMANN: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 102, “To the Victims of War” – Ying Quartet – Dorian
Outstanding recordings of outstanding works.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
