Like other genres from the piano sonata to the symphony, Beethoven's string quartets of his "Middle Period" were to forever change the genre. Gone were the quartets capable of performance by amateurs; by the Middle Period, Beethoven's quartets needed players of the highest caliber and were conceived as serious concert pieces rather than salon music. This Nimbus Alliance three-disc set features all five of these quartets as well as the rarely heard transcription of the Op. 14, No. 1 Piano Sonata. While important as it is one ...
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Like other genres from the piano sonata to the symphony, Beethoven's string quartets of his "Middle Period" were to forever change the genre. Gone were the quartets capable of performance by amateurs; by the Middle Period, Beethoven's quartets needed players of the highest caliber and were conceived as serious concert pieces rather than salon music. This Nimbus Alliance three-disc set features all five of these quartets as well as the rarely heard transcription of the Op. 14, No. 1 Piano Sonata. While important as it is one of Beethoven's rare transcriptions, Op. 14 no. 1 offers little interest in comparison to the grandeur of the Op. 59 "Razumovsky" Quartets, the vitality of the Op. 74 "Harp" Quartet, or the unbridled intensity of the Op. 95 "Serioso" Quartet. Performing these indispensible works is the Czech Wihan Quartet. All six quartets were recorded live in a Prague Convent and are filled with spontaneity and excitement that can rarely be achieved in a studio recording. The Wihan plays with a...
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