Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18 Nos. 1-3 Chiaroscuro Quartet

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1:
• 1 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: I. Allegro con brio 08:55
• 2 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato 09:37
• 3 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: III. Scherzo. Allegro molto 03:15
• 4 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1: IV. Allegro 06:41
• String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2:
• 5 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: I. Allegro 07:37
• 6 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: II. Adagio cantabile 05:15
• 7 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: III. Scherzo. Allegro 04:08
• 8 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2: IV. Allegro molto, quasi presto 05:34
• String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3:
• 9 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: I. Allegro 07:50
• 10 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: II. Andante con moto 07:00
• 11 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: III. Allegro 03:00
• 12 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: IV. Presto 06:13
• Total Runtime 01:15:05

Info for Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18 Nos. 1-3

For a string player, Beethoven’s 16 quartets are of an importance similar to that of his sonatas to a pianist, or his symphonies to a conductor. As a body they form the culmination of all the chamber music composed before them, and to this day they remain a benchmark for every composer of string quartets. The Chiaroscuro Quartet begin their cycle of these works at the same place as Beethoven did, with the Op. 18 set which occupied him intensively for the best part of two years (1798 – 1800). The effort he put into these quartets was surely due to the fact that he had much to live up to – they would be measured against those of Haydn and Mozart, who had raised the genre to a supreme vehicle for ‘learned’ taste and subtle, civilized musical discourse.

Beethoven was clearly determined that the six Op. 18 quartets should present the widest possible overview of his art. Of the three works included on this first volume, No. 1 in F major is the most imposing in scale and the widest in expressive range. In comparison, the second quartet, in G major, is more urbane and light-hearted, recreating the spirit of an eighteenth-century comedy of manners à la Haydn. The most lyrical of the set is Quartet No. 3 in D major, which despite its numbering was probably the first quartet that Beethoven completed.

Chiaroscuro Quartet

Chiaroscuro Quartet
Formed in 2005, the Chiaroscuro Quartet performs music of the Classical period with historical instruments and approach.

Recently the quartet played their first concert at the Edinburgh International Festival followed by their debut in Germany as part of the Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Highlights in the past took the young ensemble to London's Wigmore Hall, York Early Music Centre, The Sage Gateshead (recorded for BBC Radio 3), Auditorium du Louvre Paris, Théâtre du Jeu-de-Paume in Aix-en-Provence, Grand Théâtre de Dijon, Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon and a residency in Aldeburgh.

Following the critically acclaimed release of their first album in September 2011, the Chiaroscuro Quartet released its second recording for the French label Aparté in April 2013. The CD including Beethoven's Quartetto serioso, Mozart's Quartet K. 428 and Adagio and Fugue K. 546 received four out of four possible f in the French magazine Télérama and was given the best note for its interpretation in Germany's major magazine for chamber music Ensemble.

In the coming months the quartet will return to the BBC Radio 3 for a lunchtime concert in London and appear on stage of the Nikolaisaal Potsdam and Kunstverein Wiesloch. Concerts in the Netherlands (Concertgebouw Amsterdam), Belgium (Ghent, Handelsbeurs Concertzaal), France (Clermont-Ferrand and Pau) and Spain (Madrid and Bilbao) are scheduled for early 2014.

Since 2009 the Quartet has held a residency at Port-Royal-des-Champs dedicated to Mozart's quartets.

Booklet for Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18 Nos. 1-3