Composer: Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Antonín Dvořák, Edvard Hagerup Grieg, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Giuseppe Verdi
Performer: Conrad Hansen, Heinrich Geuser, Cecil Aronowitz, Amadeus Quartet
Number of Discs: 6
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Audite
Catalogue: AUDITE21425
Release: 2016
Size: 1.1 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Romanze. Poco adagio
03. III. Allegretto molto moderato e comodo
04. IV. Allegro
Brahms: String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67
05. I. Vivace
06. II. Andante
07. III. Agitato (Allegretto non troppo)
08. IV. Poco allegretto con Variazioni
CD 02
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
01. I. Allegro non troppo
02. II. Andante un poco adagio
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro
04. IV. Finale. Poco sostenuto – Allegro non troppo
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
05. I. Allegro
06. II. Adagio – Più lento
07. III. Andantino – Presto non assai, ma con sentimento
08. IV. Con moto
CD 03
Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111
01. I. Allegro non troppo, ma con brio
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Un poco allegretto
04. IV. Vivace ma non troppo presto
Bruckner: String Quintet in F major
05. I. Gemäßigt
06. II. Scherzo. Schnell – Trio. Langsamer
07. III. Adagio
08. IV. Finale. Lebhaft bewegt
CD 04
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44
01. I. Allegro brillante
02. II. In modo d’una marcia. Un poco largamente
03. III. Scherzo. Molto vivace – Trio I – Trio II – L’istesso tempo
04. IV. Allegro, ma non troppo
Schumann: String Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 41 No. 3
05. I. Andante espressivo – Allegro molto moderato
06. II. Assai agitato – Un poco adagio – Tempo sisoluto
07. III. Adagio molto
08. IV. Finale. Allegro molto vivace
CD 05
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 12
01. I. Adagio non troppo – Allegro non tardante
02. II. Canzonetta. Allegretto – Più mosso
03. III. Andante espressivo –
04. IV. Molto allegro e vivace
Mendelssohn: Four pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81
05. No. 3, Capriccio in E Minor, MWV R 32
Verdi: String Quartet in E minor
06. I. Allegro
07. II. Andantino
08. III. Prestissimo
09. IV. Scherzo fuga: Allegro assai mosso
CD 06
Dvořák: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81
01. I. Allegro ma non tanto
02. II. Dumka: Andante con moto
03. III. Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace
04. IV. Finale. Allegro
Grieg: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27
05. I. Un poco andante – Allegro molto ed agitato
06. II. Romanze. Andantino – Allegro agitato
07. III. Intermezzo. Allegro molto marcato – Allegro agitato
08. IV. Finale. Lento – Presto al saltarello
The fifth CD boxed set, Vol. V, from the series The RIAS Amadeus Quartet Recordings is dedicated to nineteenth-century Romantic composers. This six-volume edition presents exclusively first releases on CD.
The Amadeus Quartet included a wider repertoire in the broadcasting studio than in the recording studio. Works by Edvard Grieg and Robert Schumann interpreted by the Amadeus Quartet can be heard here for the first time on CD. And five works in this edition represent novel repertoire that the Amadeus Quartet never recorded on LP: Dvorák’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81, Grieg’s String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 27, Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 12, as well as Schumann’s String Quartet in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3 and Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44.
Only half the works recorded here belong to the string quartet genre. The Amadeus Quartet enjoyed collaborating with other musicians and did so often. In the three piano quintets by Brahms, Dvorák, and Schumann, they performed together with pianist Conrad Hansen, who had appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler in the 1940s. In the string quintets by Brahms and Bruckner, the Amadeus Quartet is joined by South African-born Cecil Aronowitz – the musician they always turned to when in need of a second violist. And in Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet we hear Heinrich Geuser, regarded as Germany’s leading clarinetist in the 1950s.