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Brahms - String Quintets | Dynamic CDS7883

Brahms - String Quintets

£12.69

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Label: Dynamic

Cat No: CDS7883

Barcode: 8007144078836

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Chamber

Release Date: 18th September 2020

Contents

Artists

Quartetto Energie Nove
Vladimir Mendelssohn (viola)

Works

Brahms, Johannes

String Quintet no.1 in F major, op.88
String Quintet no.2 in G major, op.111

Artists

Quartetto Energie Nove
Vladimir Mendelssohn (viola)

About

The soaring, optimistic opening of Brahms’s String Quintet no.2 in G major, op.111, is one of the great moments in chamber music: the upper strings shimmer, enriched with the addition of a second viola, while the cello delivers its leaping melody.

The work is equal to his Op.88 string quintet: it has an even more intimate and abstract character, with rich and complex writing within the concise form that also characterises its twin work.

The Quintet in F major, op.88, was completed in the spring of 1882 at Bad Ischl, a place particularly favoured by Brahms. Unusually, the composer immediately declared himself very pleased with the work, to the point that he wrote, after the customary private performance, to the publisher Simrock: ‘I can assure you that up to today I have never listened to a better work written by me.’ Cast in three concise movements, the Quintet in F major is an extraordinary work, warmly communicative, and undoubtedly one of the Hamburg composer's best chamber works.

The two String Quintets, op.88 and op.111, are particularly noteworthy and should be counted among Brahms’s chamber music masterpieces, even though they are rarely performed in concert because of the peculiar scoring for 2 violins, 2 violas and cello. Since there are no regular ensembles with this make-up, they are usually performed by an established string quartet to which a second viola is added.

‘Energie Nove, or New Energy, certainly does describe this phenomenal Swiss quartet, founded in Lugano in 2008. From the first note of this new recording of Leoš Janáček’s string quartets, however, I was absolutely pinned to the wall. And I stayed there for the whole of this record. (…) I can’t say enough good things about this release, This disc is a killer!’ – The Art Music Lounge on CDS7708 (Janáček String Quartets)

‘This performance is beautifully paced and imbued with the spirit of the dance. It gives the impression of an interpretation long marinated. What can be said of the quartet’s sound – edgy, steely, but warm – can also be said of the recording. This ensemble is well named.’ – The Strad on CDS7817 (Smetana String Quartets)

Quartetto Energie Nove:
- Hans Liviabella (violin)
- Barbara Ciannamea (violin)
- Ivan Vukcevic (viola)
- Felix Vogelsang (cello)

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