VIVAT103

Beethoven: Quartets, opus 18 (Volume 1)

Beethoven: Quartets, opus 18 (Volume 1)

£8.00 – £15.00

Carolyn Sampson soprano
The King’s Consort
Robert King

“Enthusiastically recommended to Sampson’s many admirers and Handel lovers alike”
(Gramophone)

“This entrancing disc – Robert King’s consort is a British treasure”
(Otago Daily Times)

 

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The first of a major series of Beethoven Quartets by the Allegri Quartet for VIVAT brings volume 1 of the astonishing Opus 18 set, composed between 1798 and 1800. The young Beethoven produced music that was full of energy and variety, optimistic yet passionate, brimming with invention and enthusiasm. Early Beethoven these quartets may be, but they prove that the composer was already a master of the form.

In 2013 the Allegri String Quartet celebrate their sixtieth anniversary, making them Britain’s
longest-running chamber music ensemble. Following in the footsteps of the quartet’s founders, Eli Goren and William Pleeth, today’s Allegri musicians – violinists Ofer Falk and Rafael Todes, violist Dorothea Vogel and cellist Vanessa Lucas-Smith – continue the quartet’s long tradition of performing Beethoven.

This disc was engineered using the latest in high resolution recording. Renowned engineer Tony Faulkner recorded the quartet in the well-nigh perfect acoustics of Menuhin Hall, Surrey, in 192kHz, 24-bit sound (a conventional CD is heard in 44.1kHz, 16-bit), enabling a master recording of outstanding audio faithfulness and exceptional tonal clarity. That ‘hi-res 192k’ studio master is available for download from VIVAT.

Track Composer Title Duration Play
1 Beethoven Op 18/4, mvt 1: Allegro ma non tanto 8’49  
2 Beethoven Op 18/4, mvt 2: Andante scherzoso 7’33  
3 Beethoven Op 18/4, mvt 3: Menuetto : Allegro 3’40  
4 Beethoven Op 18/4, mvt 4: Allegretto 4’22  
5 Beethoven Op 18/3, mvt 1: Allegro 7’54  
6 Beethoven Op 18/3, mvt 2: Andante con moto 8’37  
7 Beethoven Op 18/3, mvt 3: Allegro 2’52  
8 Beethoven Op 18/3, mvt 4: Presto 6’36  
9 Beethoven Op 18/5, mvt 1: Allegro 6’30  
10 Beethoven Op 18/5, mvt 2: Menuetto 4’38  
11 Beethoven Op 18/5, mvt 3: Andante cantabile 10’05  
12 Beethoven Op 18/5, mvt 4: Allegro 6’53  
    Total 78′  
Download CD booklet (PDF)

“Unforced elegance and cleanness of detail, avoiding heavy gesture in favour of nimble energy”
(The Observer)

“This is an exhilarating disc”
(The Sunday Times)

“You really can’t go far wrong
with this set”
(Classic FM)

VIVAT 103
Beethoven: Quartets, opus 18 (Volume 1)

Allegri String Quartet

Beethoven: Quartet in D major, opus 18 no 3
Beethoven: Quartet in C minor, opus 18 no 4
Beethoven: Quartet in A major, opus 18 no 5