Haydn Quartets

The Chiaroscuro Quartet has embarked on a chronological, single-album cycle of Beethoven's quartets, and the group returns here with the second volume, offering the fourth, fifth, and sixth quartets from the composer's Op. 18 set of six. The group uses gut strings and early instruments (second violinist Pablo Hernán Benedí plays a 1570 Amati instrument) that impart a physicality fitting the quartet's expressive aims. The word "chiaroscuro" befits this quartet, which, even in Haydn quartets, offers high-contrast performances.

Dissonance Quartet – the name already contains the thrill of transgression. But a dissonance, in which the parts momentarily diverge from triadic harmony, is the necessary condition to achieve an aesthetic of four-part conflict, such as was sought after in the genre of classical string quartet. Mozart’s work in C Major with the “dissonance” epithet is the highlight of a group of six quartets in which he responded to the music of his colleague Joseph Haydn and the latter’s concept of discursive thematic work in a four-part texture.

The Emerson String Quartet stands alone in the history of string quartets as musicians of unrivalled eminence with an incomparable list of great recordings over three decades. For its debut on Sony Classical, the Quartet has selected Mozart’s last three string quartets, the “Prussian” quartets. Having recorded Mozart's six "Haydn Quartets" as well as the flute quartets, the Emersons have long desired to add more Mozart to their discography. This new album sees them recording Mozart quartets for the first time in 20 years.