Mozart String Quartets

Towards the end of his life, short of money and heavily in debt, Mozart had the opportunity to visit King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia – a famous patron of the arts and a keen and above-average musician. Mozart performed for the King and left with some cash and a commission for a set of six string quartets, of which these are the only three he completed. They are ground-breaking in the way in which Mozart utilised the voicing of the instruments. King Friedrich was a viola da gamba player turned cellist, and these works feature extensive melodies for the cello, usually in a high register, thus emancipating the cello from the bass line and introducing a more evenly blended texture.

The new album MOZART Vol. 2 of the Armida Quartet will be released on 28 June 2019 on CAvi-music. The recording was co-produced by Bayrischer Rundfunk BR-KLASSIK and features KV 80, KV 458 (The Hunt) and KV 499 (Hoffmeister Quartet) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A special feature for all string quartet fans is the use of the new Mozart Urtext Edition by G.Henle Verlag!

…….With the recordings on this album, the Armida Quartet has reached the halfway mark in a project that seeks to intimately explore an entire mountain range:

On this recording, the Engegard Quartet present three of Mozart’s six string quartets dedicated to Haydn, the so-called “Haydn” Quartets. The six “Haydn” Quartets were written between 1782-85, while Mozart enjoyed great popularity in Vienna. Mozart had written a series of quartets in his youth, but it had been almost ten years since he wrote the last one.

Every string quartet dreams of having its own Mozart cycle: for its 10th anniversary in 2016, the Armida Quartet plans to perform all 23 works in public. The composer was part of each one of their lives long before the ensemble was formed. Playing in orchestras, in chamber music and in solo recitals, the Armida Quartet’s future members already got to know and love Mozart.

The Prazák Quartet has long distinguished itself with its passionate, nationalistic interpretations of late Romantic composers such as Dvorák, Smetana, and Janácek, as well as insightful and precision playing of composers from the Second Viennese School such as Schoenberg, Webern, and Bern. That this ensemble produces successful, enjoyable recordings of string quartets of the aforementioned composers is not now in question. What is questionable is whether or not the same approach the Prazák uses for Janácek or Schoenberg will produce a convincing recording of the Mozart "Haydn" quartets, and the answer is no. The ensemble's sound throughout this recording is simply too sparse and piercing, particularly in the first violin. The viola and cello sound quite nasal and strained. Much of the time, the approach to the instruments is exceedingly forceful and harsh. When the musicians do finally get around to trying to produce a piano dynamic, their sound appears out of breath, almost as if they have difficulty maintaining contact with the string while playing softly. The superior audio fidelity of this SACD release only heightens listeners' awareness of these shortcomings in sound quality. Gone are traces of elegance, gracefulness, or decorum that many listeners will find intrinsic in enjoyable performances of Mozart.