Beethoven The Complete String Quartets, Vol. 2

BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTETS

Disc 1
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet No.7 in F major, Op.59 No.1
1. Allegro
2. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando
3. Adagio molto e mesto
4. Thème Russe: Allegro
String Quartet No.9 in C major, Op.59 No.3
5. Introduzione: Andante con moto – Allegro vivace
6. Andante con moto quasi allegretto
7. Menuetto: Grazioso
8. Allegro molto

Disc 2
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) String Quartet No.8 in E minor, Op.59 No.2
1. Allegro
2. Molto adagio
3. Allegretto
4. Presto

Disc 3
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet No.10 in E-flat major, Op.74
1. Poco adagio – Allegro
2. Adagio ma non troppo
3. Presto
4. Allegretto con variazioni
String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op.95, ‘Quartetto serioso’
5. Allegro con brio
6. Allegretto ma non troppo
7. Allegro assai vivace ma serioso
8. Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato – Allegro

Alexandra Kazovsky, violin
Gershon Gerchikov, violin
Jan Grüning, viola
Amit Even-Tov, cello

This review is rather short for a reason and one reason only. I haven’t heard musicianship of this calibre in a long time, especially within string quartet ensembles. There’s just something about the Ariel Quartet that draws life out of every note on the page. And being a young ensemble makes it all the more remarkable. Like a living entity they move forward through the music expressing each and every dynamic and/or emotive, structural detail as if they were a single, organic being. Technical hurdles vanish as the music jumps off the printed score. And most atypical is that it’s all done without puffery or affectation. Finally, a Beethoven that doesn’t sound so rigid and austere. Enough said!