BEETHOVEN: STRING QUARTETS NO. 13 & 15; GROSSE FUGE - FITZWILLIAM STRING QUARTET (2 CDS)
BEETHOVEN: STRING QUARTETS NO. 13 & 15; GROSSE FUGE - FITZWILLIAM STRING QUARTET (2 CDS)
FORMAT (CD, LP, DVD?)
FORMAT (CD, LP, DVD?)
All that was issued of a projected Fitzwilliam Quartet cycle on Decca was two late quartets – Opp. 130 and 132 – as well as the Grosse Fuge. Issued over two full-price discs and unavailable for more than two decades, they are now coupled as a 2CD Eloquence reissue. Some of Beethoven’s most visionary achievements, the recordings were highly regarded upon their first (and only appearance) on CD. The Grosse Fuge is placed before the finale of the B flat major Quartet, ‘clearly intended to be a spectacular apotheosis’, as Alan George argues in his notes. Listeners can program the CD with either the Grosse Fuge as the finale or the sixth movement conventionally used as its finale.
The lengthy annotations include an introductory note by the Fitzwilliam Quartet’s viola player Alan George, reminiscing about the recordings. The original CD notes are updated and revised and an additional note on the Grosse Fuge is provided by the Quartet’s current leader, Lucy Russell. As well there is a biography of the Fitzwilliam Quartet and a note on their Decca recording team.
Collectors will be interested to learn that the Fitzwilliams’s recording of the Op. 130 and Grosse Fuge was the last recording ever to be made by Decca in one of its most prestigious recording venues, Kingsway Hall.
This thoughtful performance has much to recommend it. In the dominating slow movement the players risk a slower tempo than any other ensemble known to me … and this is symptomatic of the committed intensity with which they play this extraordinary music. - GRAMOPHONE
I much like the ardour and intelligence that the Fitzwilliam bring to all they do. … this ensemble can hold their own alongside most competition, for they are without question one of the finest ensembles this country has produced in recent years. Impressive too, is the Decca recording, which is as well balanced as any of the current rivals. I was struck right from the very opening by their unerringly right choice of tempos [in Op. 130]. … This is indeed a thoughtful reading, obviously the product of much care and feeling. … Their account of the Grosse Fuge, is powerful and muscular … There is a marvellously combative feeling here.’ (Op. 130, Grosse Fuge) Gramophone
BEETHOVEN
String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130
Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
Fitzwilliam String Quartet
Christopher Rowland, violin I
Jonathan Sparey, violin II
Alan George, viola
Ioan Davies, cello
BIG SPRING CLEARANCE SALE
-
A Treasury of English Keyboard Music - Gerald Gifford
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
AMERICAN CLARINET (Reich: New York Counterpoint; Carter: Clarinet Concerto; Adams: Gnarly Buttons; Sandroff: Tephillah)
Regular price €8,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Amor de Lohn: The Distant Love Of The Troubadors - Martin Best Ensemble
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
AVE REX ANGELORUM: CAROLS AND MUSIC TRACING THE JOURNEY FROM CHRIST THE KING TO EPIPHANY: CHOIR OF KEBLE COLLEGE, OXFORD
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Bach Family: Chamber Music For Two Flutes
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
BACH: 6 Brandenburg Concertos (1953 Aldeburgh Festival Opening Concert) - Britten, English Chamber Orchestra (2 CDs)
Regular price €9,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
BACH: 6 Partitas, BWV 825 - 830 - GUSTAV LEONHARDT (2 CDs)
Regular price €9,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
BACH: Brandenburg Concertos 1-4 - ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN in THE FIELDS, SIR NEVILLE MARRINER
Regular price €8,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Bach: Complete Works For Organ, Vol. 10 - Kevin Bowyer (2 CDs)
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Bach: Keyboard Concertos BWV 1053-1058 - Nick van Bloss, English Chamber Orchestra
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Bach: Mass In B Minor, BWV 232 - SCHWARZKOPF / KARAJAN / VIENNA PHILHARMONIC (2 CDs)
Regular price €9,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Bach: The Partitas BWV 825-830 - Virginia Black, piano (2 CDs)
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Bach: Works For Harpsichord - Richard Lester (2 CDs)
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Balanchine's Jewels - MARIINSKY BALLET AND ORCHESTRA (Blu-Ray)
Regular price €9,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Beethoven: Complete Sonatas For Violin & Piano and Cello & Piano - PAUL TORTELIER, JACQUELINE DU PRE, CHRISTIAN FERRAS, ERIC HEIDSIECK (5 CDS)
Regular price €14,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18/3, Op. 18/5 & Op. 135 - ARTEMIS QUARTET
Regular price €7,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Beethoven: Symphonies 1, 2, 3 & 8 - WOLFGANG SAWALLISCH, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (2 CDs)
Regular price €9,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 6 - SIMON RATTLE, VIENNA PHILARMONIC
Regular price €8,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Beethoven: Two Romances; Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto; Schubert: Konzertstuck: RONALD THOMAS, BOURNEMOUTH SINFONIETTA
Regular price €4,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per -
Beethoven: Variations For Piano - JOHN OGDON, EMIL GILELS
Regular price €8,95 EURRegular priceUnit price / per