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The Quartetto di Cremona have completed another stage in their
adventurous journey through the cosmos of Beethoven's String
Quartets, visiting the Quartet in G major from the Op. 18 set and
the last of the Op. 59 Quartets.
The performance culture and market for the string quartet in the
late eighteenth century was markedly different to that of later
times: the young Beethoven wrote his Quartets Op. 18 for amateurs.
The G major Quartet, the second in the collection, was one
such work that could be mastered by talented aristocrats and bourgeois
connoisseurs – which is not to say that its complexities or
musical challenges are in any way diminished.
With the so-called "Razumovsky" Quartets, the string quartet
reached adulthood. And one only needs to compare the technical
and intellectual demands of Op. 59 to contemporary works (such
as the quartets of the young Franz Schubert) in order to recognise
that Beethoven no longer composed for able amateurs, but for
highly professional specialists. This becomes particularly obvious in
the finale, an extended and extremely virtuosic fugue.
The Quartetto di Cremona have combined these two works from
Beethoven's early and middle periods for the seventh volume in
their Complete Beethoven String Quartets recording
series. Both works end with an "earworm" – one in the
classical spirit and one in the form of a rapid fugue –
finale furioso!
String Quartet
in G major, Op. 18, No. 2 24:34
1 Allegro 8:15
2 Adagio cantabile – Allegro – Tempo I 6:33
3 Scherzo. Allegro – Trio 4:32
4 Allegro molto, quasi Presto 5:14
String Quartet
in C major, Op. 59, No. 3 31:28
5 Introduzione. Andante con moto –
Allegro vivace 10:45
6 Andante con moto quasi Allegretto 9:34
7 Menuetto. Grazioso – Trio – Coda – 5:23
8 Allegro molto 5:46 |
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