Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Artemis Quartet
Number of Discs: 7
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Erato
Catalogue: 0708582
Release: 2011
Size: 2.27 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro molto
04. IV. Allegro
String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4
05. I. Allegro ma non tanto
06. II. Scherzo. Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
07. III. Menuetto. Allegretto
08. IV. Allegro
String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6
09. I. Allegro con brio
10. II. Adagio ma non troppo
11. III. Scherzo. Allegro
12. IV. (a) La malinconia. Adagio
13. IV. (b) Allegretto quasi allegro
CD 02
String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Adagio cantabile – Allegro
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro
04. IV. Allegro molto quasi presto
String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3
05. I. Allegro
06. II. Andante con moto
07. III. Allegro
08. IV. Presto
String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5
09. I. Allegro
10. II. Menuetto
11. III. Andante cantabile
12. IV. Allegro
CD 03
String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 “Razumovsky”
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando
03. III. Adagio molto e mesto
04. IV. Thème russe. Allegro
String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 “Razumovsky”
05. I. Allegro
06. II. Molto adagio
07. III. Allegretto
08. IV. Finale. Presto
CD 04
String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3 “Razumovsky”
01. I. Introduzione. Andante con moto – Allegro vivace
02. II. Andante con moto quasi allegretto
03. III. Menuetto. Grazioso
04. String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3 “Rasumovsky III”: IV. Allegro molto
String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74 “Harp”
05. I. Poco adagio – Allegro
06. II. Adagio ma non troppo
07. III. Presto
08. IV. Allegretto con variazioni
String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95 “Serioso”
09. I. Allegro con brio
10. II. Allegretto ma non troppo
11. III. Allegro assai vivace, ma serioso
12. IV. Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato
CD 05
String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127
01. I. Maestoso – Allegro
02. II. Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile
03. III. Scherzando vivace
04. IV. Finale
String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131
05. I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
06. II. Allegro molto vivace
07. III. Allegro moderato
08. IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile
09. V. Presto
10. VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante
11. VII. Allegro
CD 06
String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130
01. I. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro
02. II. Presto
03. III. Andante con moto ma non troppo
04. IV. Alla danza tedesca. Allegro assai
05. V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo
06. Grosse Fuge in B-Flat Major, Op. 133
String Quartet in F Major, Hess 34
07. I. Allegro moderato
08. II. Allegretto
09. III. Allegro
CD 07
String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132
01. I. Assai sostenuto – Allegro
02. II. Allegro ma non tanto
03. III. Molto adagio
04. IV. Alla Marcia, assai vivace
05. V. Finale. Allegro appasionato
String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135
06. I. Allegretto
07. II. Vivace
08. III. Lento assai, cantante tranquillo
09. IV. Grave ma non troppo tratto – Allegro
This box set from the Artemis Quartet marks Virgin Classics’ first complete cycle of Beethoven String Quartets. Over the past two seasons, the Berlin-based Artemis Quartet has been performing Beethoven around the world, prompting reactions such as this one, from Die Zeit: “The members of the Artemis come as people who live life, and life is what they seek in Beethoven too.”
The first of the Artemis Quartet’s Virgin Classics CDs of Beethoven Quartets was released in Autumn 2005. Now, nearly six years later, the complete Beethoven cycle becomes available in a box of 7 CDs (TBC) which includes two previously unreleased items: the quartet No 10, op 74, known as the ‘Harp’, and a transcription for string quartet, proudly made by Beethoven himself, of the Piano Sonata No 9, op 14.
The 2010-11 season has seen the Artemis Quartet continuing with its two-year focus on live performances of Beethoven. By the end of the season, the ensemble will have recently performed Beethoven quartets in, among other cities, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, London, Paris, Brussels, Rome, Milan, Florence, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston and Los Angeles, and at the Schubertiade festival in Schwarzenberg (Austria).
Eckart Runge, cellist of the Artemis Quartet, expresses the players’ views on the composer’s quartets: “His music speaks to every era – it is a perfect dialogue between tradition and modernity, and between intellectual refinement and raw emotion … In relation to the time in which he lived, Beethoven is the most modern, provocative, experimental and boldest composer of all. Many have used the string quartet to experiment, to trial and develop their mode of composition … but none of them was more extreme than Beethoven. Even today, the Grosse Fuge remains one of the most incredible and most modern pieces of music ever written … No matter how complicated the form, one can always find essential human emotion in Beethoven, whether it is hopeful longing, apprehension, exuberant joy or shy affection.”
Beethoven’s extraordinary musical evolution is traced in the cycle, which remains the touchstone of the quartet repertoire. Die Zeit observed that the Artemis Quartet is: “An ensemble that, when compared to groups on a similar level of perfection, seems to approach the repertoire from another horizon. Many quartets convey an air in their playing of rarefied workmanship and detached refinement from the world. They explore the music within the notes. The members of the Artemis come as people who live life, and life is what they seek in Beethoven too.”
The Artemis’s debut release on Virgin Classics in 2005 comprised Beethoven’s op 59/1 and op 95, while the second release brought together op 59/2, the ‘Razumovsky’ Quartet, and the Quartet op 18/4. In France, the release was named CHOC of the Year by Le Monde de la Musique and was also awarded a Diapason d’Or; in Germany it became Chamber Music Recording of the Year in the ECHO Klassik awards of the Deutsche Phono-Akademie. In the UK, the Sunday Times praised the “fresh, positive responses” of the Artemis Quartet, saying: “ … their colours are vivid and they are alert to the music’s intent to push all sorts of boundaries to breaking point,” while BBC Radio 3’s CD Review suggested that the recording should go to the top of any list of recommendations