Sirius Quartet Evans String Quartet No 1

The third and final instalment in their award-winning series, the Calidore Quartet return with a three-disc release of Beethoven Early Quartets.

The third and final instalment in their award-winning series, the Calidore Quartet return with a three-disc release of Beethoven Early Quartets.

This release is an important milestone in the collaboration between the Finnish composer and pianist Olli Mustonen and the Norwegian string quartet Engegård Quartet.

It's always a wonderful and thrilling experience to play Béla Bartók. It's got everything: the mysterious tension of a thriller, loving lyricism, warm string sounds, almost impossible techniques challenging any string player to rediscover his instrument, and exhilarating rhythms which could well be rooted in folk dance. His music has fascinated us for years, so now we've decided to record all six string quartets.

The Hungarian Quartet, formed in 1935, embodied the very best of the Central European tradition of string-playing, and this cycle, recorded in Paris in the early 1950s, represents an essential staging post in the quest for Beethoven “These performances will give endless pleasure,” wrote Gramophone, “… the ensemble attack and technical proficiency of this quartet are beyond praise … and so is their grasp of the music.” These recordings have now been remastered from the original tapes in 24BIT-96kHz digital sound.

Since its formation in 1975, the Takács Quartet has been recognized as one of the world's leading string quartets. Their award-winning recordings include the complete Beethoven String Quartets for Decca, recorded between 2002 and 2004. Decca Classics celebrates the acclaimed quartet with this multi-media presentation of the Beethoven quartets on 7 CD and a 104-page booklet.

Since its formation in 1975, the Takács Quartet has been recognized as one of the world's leading string quartets. Their award-winning recordings include the complete Beethoven String Quartets for Decca, recorded between 2002 and 2004. Decca Classics celebrates the acclaimed quartet with this multi-media presentation of the Beethoven quartets on 7 CDs,

With their recording of Dmitri Shostakovich's complete string quartets, the Quatuor Danel has crafted an impressive opus that delves into the composer's life with deep musical understanding and establishes unparalleled standards in interpreting his chamber music. These new live recordings, stemming from their 2022 residency at the Mendelssohn Hall of the Gewandhaus Leipzig, capture the full spectrum of emotions embedded in Shostakovich’s quartet cycle, from the ethereal to the profound, from the whimsical to the contemplative.