Beethoven: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 5 Quartetto di Cremona

• 1 I. Allegro moderato 10:53
• 2 II. Adagio molto espressivo 10:49
• 3 III. Scherzo. Allegro 04:00
• 4 IV. Presto 09:35
• 5 I. Assai sostenuto - Allegro 09:56
• 6 II. Allegro ma non tanto 08:10
• 7 III. Molto adagio 18:13
• 8 IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace 02:11
• 9 V. Allegro appassionato 06:53
• Total Runtime 01:20:40

Info for Beethoven: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 5

Der fünfte Teil der audite-Gesamtedition der Beethoven Streichquartette präsentiert neben dem Streichquartett op. 132 auch das einzige originale Streichquintett Beethovens. Lawrence Dutton, der Bratschist des Emerson String Quartet, ergänzt hier das Quartetto di Cremona.

Sechs Streichquintette hat Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart der Musikwelt übergeben, sieben findet man im Werkverzeichnis von Louis Spohr, auf rund 120 Quintette brachte es Luigi Boccherini. Ludwig van Beethoven ließ immerhin drei Quintette veröffentlichen, von denen er allerdings nur eines original für Streichquintettbesetzung geschrieben hatte - zu groß war offenbar der Ärger mit den Verlegern, als dass der Wiener Meister wirkliches Bedürfnis nach einem weiteren „echten' Quintett verspürt hätte. Allerdings ist das Opus 29 aus dem Jahr 1801 ein wahres Meisterwerk auf dem Übergang zwischen der Klassik seines Lehrers Joseph Haydn zur revolutionären Tonsprache der mittleren und späten Werke. Vor allem im Adagio mit dem Zusatz „molto espressivo' (sehr ausdrucksvoll) kündigt sich eine beschwörerische Intensität an, die Beethovens früherer Musik noch fremd war.

In seinem Spätwerk aus den 1820er Jahren hingegen - der Neunten Sinfonie, der Missa solemnis, den letzten Klaviersonaten und Streichquartetten - hat er eine so eigene Sprache gefunden, dass ein Etikett wie „Frühromantik' nicht greift. Auch Beethovens Quartett a-Moll op. 132 fällt mit der Aufführungsdauer seiner fünf Sätze und seinem enormen Schwierigkeitsgrad aus der zeitgenössischen Produktion heraus; nur professionelle Quartette konnten sich damals wie heute an diesen grandios angelegten Koloss heranwagen. Auch hier bildet (wie im Quintett) ein Molto adagio das Herzstück des Werks. Sein Titel - „Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenden an die Gottheit' - erinnert an eine überstandene Krankheit des Komponisten und variiert in einem weiten Bogen einen vom Renaissance-Musiker Palestrina inspirierten Gesang. So holte Beethoven einen Urahnen seiner Musik in das Quartett und legte zugleich ein religiöses Bekenntnis ab.

“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.” (CD Review)

“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” (The Guardian)

“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.” (The Observer)

“This is the most exciting new disc of string quartet playing that I have come across for a long time” (BBC Music Magazine)

“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” (Classical Music)

Lawrence Dutton, Viola
Quartetto di Cremona

Quartetto di Cremona
Internationally renowned for their "extremely mature and lyrical sound" (Strad), the Quartetto di Cremona now graces the stages of the most prestigious venues. Their focus and intensity brings life to music from the “tight blend and immaculate voicing” of their Brahms to the “sleek and elegant” dynamic countouring of their Mozart (Strad). The Quartetto di Cremona’s dedication to their work as a string quartet shows through their music.

The Quartetto di Cremona formed in 2000 at the Stauffer Academy in Cremona and continued their studies with Hatto Beyerle. In 2005 the Quartetto di Cremona received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.

Building on their early successes, the Quartetto di Cremona has played to critical acclaim at the most important venues and festivals in Europe including at the Beethoven Haus and BeethovenFest Bonn, Konzerthaus (Berlin), Klara Festival (Brussels), Mecklenberg Vorpommen Music Festival, Båstad Chamber Music Festival, Turku Music Festival, Handelsbeurs (Gent), Moving on Music Festival (Northern Ireland, recorded by BBC Radio 3), and numerous performances at the Wigmore Hall (London).

The Quartetto di Cremona has toured extensively in Australia and performed at the renowned Perth International Art Festival Australia. In the USA, they recently won the eleventh Web Concert Hall Competition and they will perform at Metropolitan Museum in March 2013.

In their homeland of Italy they have made their name performing at the Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome and at the most renowned Italian music societies. The Quartet was nominated "Artist in Residence" at the Societa' del Quartetto of Milan and will be involved in various projects culminating in 2014 for the 150th anniversary of the Societa' del Quartetto – when they will perform the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets.

Recent and forthcoming tours include engagements in the USA, Japan, Mexico and China and in Europe the Quartetto di Cremona will tour the UK, Italy, Scandinavia, Germany, and make a debut tour of Austria.

Their extensive repertoire ranges from the early Haydn quartets to Wolfgang Rihm and Helmut Lachenmann, with particular interest in contemporary Italian music including the composers Fabio Vacchi, Luciano Berio and Luigi Nono.

Their debut recording for Decca encompassed the complete string quartets by Fabio Vacchi, released in April 2011. From July 2012 over the next two seasons the Quartetto di Cremona will record the complete Beethoven String Quartets for the German label Audite, which also issued Italian Journey, dedicated to Italian composers in November 2012.

An important part of the Quartetto di Cremona’s activity is teaching master classes throughout Europe. Since Autumn 2011, the Quartet has taught at the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona.

The Quartetto di Cremona has been chosen as a testimonial of the International project "Friends of Stradivari".

Booklet for Beethoven: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 5