Mandelring

The Mandelring Quartet plays with unflinching resolve, sympathetic expression, incisive attacks, and penetrating tone, which are all necessary in Shostakovich's sardonic and frequently bitter language.

Hard-cornered, sharp-edged, and superbly played, the Mandelring Quartett's series of performances of Shostakovich's string quartets recorded for the Audite label are splendid examples of the modernist-internationalist manner.

This is the second volume in the Mandelring Quartet's series of Audite recordings of the string quartets of Brahms coupled with string quartets of his lesser known contemporaries. The earlier volume coupled Brahms' C minor quartet with Friedrich Gernsheim's A minor quartet, the later volume coupled Brahms' A minor quartet with Felix Otto Dessoff's F major quartet, and this volume joins Brahms' B flat major quartet with Heinrich von Herzogenberg's G minor quartet.

While entirely consistent with the previous two volumes in a series of recordings of Schubert's quartets, the Mandelring Quartet's third installment is entirely inconsistent with almost every previous recording of Schubert's quartets. In this 2006 coupling of the late G major Quartet with the early G minor Quartet, the Mandelring displays the same qualities that distinguished its previous recordings: strength, drive, and overwhelming intensity. The opening Allegro molto moderato of the G major Quartet has more power in its attacks, more edge in its sonorities, and more vigor in its rhythms than even the Alban Berg's forceful account, while the following Andante un poco mosso has more raw excitement than any previous version.

Dmitri Shostakovich - Mandelring Quartett - String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 4
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,30 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,12 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Audite # 92.526 | Country/Year: Germany 2006 | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary

"A triumphant start to what heralds to be one of the best Shostakovich quartet cycles imaginable. (…) Highly recommended." 5/5 ~sa-cd.net

Dmitri Shostakovich - Mandelring Quartett - String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 4
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 295 MB | Full Artwork: 84 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Audite # 92.526 | Country/Year: Germany 2006
Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary

"A triumphant start to what heralds to be one of the best Shostakovich quartet cycles imaginable. (…) Highly recommended." 5/5 ~sa-cd.net

This is the third and final disc of the Mandelring Quartet's survey of the complete string quartets of Johannes Brahms. It is the third disc because the German group has ingeniously coupled each of Brahms' three quartets with works written by his friends and contemporaries. Thus the first volume coupled Brahms' C minor Quartet with the A minor Quartet of Friedrich Gernsheim, the second volume coupled Brahms' B flat major Quartet with the G minor Quartet of Heinrich von Herzogenberg, and this third volume couples Brahms' A minor Quartet with the F major Quartet of Felix Otto Dessoff.