Elias Quartet

The Elias Quartet has already recorded a complete cycle of Beethoven quartets at Wigmore Hall that was extremely well received by the critics. Now Sara Bitlloch, Donald Grant, Martin Saving and Marie Bitlloch present on Alpha an album devoted to Schumann:"We have always had a special affection for Robert Schumann’s Third Quartet. It’s one of the first works we played together. Since then we have often come back to it, as if to a splendid and familiar region that we think we know thoroughly, but which yields up new secrets with each visit.

Schumann’s Piano Quintet, composed in the autumn of 1842, was one of the earliest examples of the combination of piano with a string quartet – Boccherini, Dussek and Hummel had each produced one, and Schubert used the double bass in his ‘Trout’ Quintet. It instantly became one of Schumann’s most popular works. It was composed at a time of almost feverish industry – he composed his three string quartets Op.41, the Piano Quartet and a set of Fantasy Pieces for piano trio, all in 1842. The piano quintet is a captivating, almost spontaneous work, and is a brilliant example of Schumann’s inspiration from start to finish.

The Beijing-born guitarist Xuefei Yang has recorded her first album of baroque music, an all-Bach programme anchored by three concertos newly arranged for guitar and string quartet. Bach Concertos is an exciting, innovative album in which she has transcribed for the guitar some of Bach’s familiar violin concertos and other works, hoping to establish these new arrangements as noteworthy repertoire for the guitar and to expand the concerto repertoire for that instrument. Xuefei complements the concertante repertoire with solo guitar arrangements of the Violin Sonata No. 1 BWV 1001, the Prelude in C Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier BWV 846 and the Air on a G string from the Orchestral Suite in D major BWV 1068.

Audiences around Britain and beyond became devoted followers of the Elias String Quartet s Beethoven Project, in which the complete quartets were performed over the course of two seasons. This disc offers the chance to hear the fruits of the ensemble s collective experience and deep thinking on the works. We are proud to release the second volume of this collection on the Wigmore Hall Live label which presents three masterpieces: String Quartet in F Op. 18 No. 1, String Quartet in A minor Op. 132 and String Quintet in C Op. 29. For the latter the Elias String Quartet is joined by Malin Broman who is in huge demand as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. In this rousing concert, recorded live in concert at Wigmore Hall, the ensemble explores these works with sustained intensity and meticulous attention to detail.