Mozart String Quartets 14 19

Mozart was still in nappies at the time when Haydn more or less single-handedly invented the string quartet. Nearly half a century later, as he struggled - and failed - to complete his last quartet, Beethoven was already at work on his Eroica Symphony. In the interim, Haydn wrote considerably more quartet masterpieces than Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert put together, raising the medium to a level of sophistication, subtlety and originality that provided a yardstick for all later composers. Mind you, it took him some time to get there: it isn't until the eighth CD of this set that we reach the first of the unequivocally great works, the six quartets which make up Op. 20.

This is the Amadeus Quartet's second complete recording of Mozart's String Quartets for Deutsche Grammophon. The ensembles first recording in mono during the early 1950's received such international acclaim that it all but insured that these modern stereo performances recorded mostly in the late 1960's would be sure winners. They were, and have remained is DG's catalogue ever since. Characterized by incomparable ensemble playing and a thorough understanding of Mozart's humor and wit, these performances are simply as good as it gets.

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.

There is little doubt that Vienna at the turn of the 19th century was the musical capital of the world; a nexus for the string quartet composer, who could alternate composing for the leading virtuosos of the day with creating works that satisfied the then-increasing predilection for domestic music-making. Against this background, striving to find his own voice and using the medium as a path towards his early symphonies, was the young, prodigiously talented Franz Schubert. Similar to Beethoven, Schubert stood out in his refusal to target the general public with his writing, though there is much evidence to suggest that the majority of his early string quartets were written for and first performed by his family’s own ensemble.