Artist: Quatuor Ebene
Title Of Album: Beethoven Around the World: The Complete String Quartets
Year Of Release: 2020
Label: Erato
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC [racks, 24bit/96kHz], booklet / FLAC (*image + .cue,log,scans)
Time: 7 CDs, 08:50:01 min
Total Size: 10,75 Gb / 2,57 Gb (+1%rec.)
The Quatuor Ébène timed this round-the-world Beethoven cycle to coincide with Beethoven's 250th birthday in 2020, beginning a worldwide tour and fortunately completing it before the outbreak of the pandemic in that year. The cycle was recorded in Philadelphia, Vienna, Tokyo, São Paolo, Melbourne, Nairobi, and finally Paris. CD buyers get a combination of travelogue and set of work descriptions, but it's not clear that the performances were influenced in any way by the globetrotting. This is, however, a very strong Beethoven set, with full-blooded performances perhaps unexpected from a group that made its name with French quartet music. Credit, first of all, goes to mastering engineer Fabrice Planchat, who followed the group around the world with a portable studio, recording, according to the ambiguous note, "live and in rehearsal" (there is no audience noise). The sound retains some of its original characteristics, including in an acoustically inferior Alliance Française Auditorium in Nairobi, but is stitched together into a coherent whole. The Quatuor Ébène generally offers high-intensity readings that relax at times into passages of passionate rather than delicate lyricism. In the String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131, the Allegro molto vivace of the second movement may seem to leave no room for the Presto of the fifth, but the group makes it happen. The late quartets as a whole are extremely compelling, with the group catching the odd mixture of comedy and existential dread in the String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, and delivering a heartfelt "prayer of thanks of one who has recovered to the Godhead" in the slow movement of the String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132. An unusual feature among the late quartets is that the String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130, concludes with the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, the work's original finale, rather than the finale on which Beethoven eventually settled. The early quartets get weighty readings that place them at the forefront of Beethoven's stylistic development rather than in Haydn's orbit; listen to the alternatively lovely and grim "La Malinconia" finale of the String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major, Op. 18. No. 6. Curiously, two of the three Op. 59 "Razumovsky" quartets are placed together on a single disc rather than being evenly distributed, but these too follow the pattern of fast tempos and high-energy readings. It may be that the Quatuor Ébène did not need to travel the globe to accomplish this, but the group's Beethoven cycle compels attention.
Tracklist:
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) :
String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1
01. I. Allegro con brio 09:32
02. II. Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato 11:14
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro molto 03:17
04. IV. Allegro 06:37
String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131
05. I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo 07:35
06. II. Allegro molto vivace 03:12
07. III. Allegro moderato - Adagio 00:49
08. IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile - Allegretto 14:35
09. V. Presto 05:13
10. VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante 02:25
11. VII. Allegro 07:05
String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1, "Razumovsky"
12. I. Allegro 10:43
13. II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 09:01
14. III. Adagio molto e mesto 14:12
15. IV. Allegro (Russian Theme) 08:05
String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2, "Razumovsky"
16. I. Allegro SHRM 96/24 09:58
17. II. Molto adagio 13:14
18. III. Allegretto 06:59
19. IV. Finale - Presto 05:42
String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3, "Razumovsky"
20. I. Introduzione (Andante con moto - Allegro vivace) 11:15
21. II. Andante con moto quasi allegretto 09:26
22. III. Minuet. Grazioso - Trio 05:16
23. IV. Allegro molto 05:48
String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat Major, Op. 130
24. I. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro 13:32
25. II. Presto 01:53
26. III. Andante con moto, ma non troppo 07:02
27. IV. Alla danza tedesca (Allegro assai) 03:12
28. V. Cavatina (Adagio molto espressivo) 08:36
29. Grosse fuge in B-Flat Major, Op. 133 16:20
String Quartet No. 6 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6
30. I. Allegro con brio 06:24
31. II. Adagio ma non troppo 08:16
32. III. Scherzo (Allegro) 03:27
33. IV. La Malinconia 09:16
String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127
34. I. Maestoso - Allegro 07:16
35. II. Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile 17:01
36. III. Scherzando vivace 08:22
37. IV. Finale (Allegro) 06:51
String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2
38. I. Allegro 08:25
39. II. Adagio cantabile - Allegro - Tempo I 06:46
40. III. Scherzo (Allegro) 04:25
41. IV. Allegro molto, quasi presto 05:06
String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95, "Quartetto serioso"
42. I. Allegro con brio 04:17
43. II. Allegretto ma non troppo 07:54
44. III. Allegro assai vivace, ma serioso 04:28
45. IV. Larghetto espressivo - Allegretto agitato - Allegro 04:53
String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74, "Harp"
46. I. Poco adagio - Allegro 09:23
47. II. Adagio ma non troppo 10:16
48. III. Presto 05:01
49. IV. Allegretto con variazioni 06:53
String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4
50. I. Allegro ma non tanto 08:09
51. II. Scherzo (Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto) 07:12
52. III. Menuetto (Allegretto) 03:24
53. IV. Allegro 04:17
String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5
54. I. Allegro 06:54
55. II. Menuetto 04:40
56. III. Andante cantabile 10:46
57. IV. Allegro 06:20
String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135
58. I. Allegretto 06:13
59. II. Vivace 03:18
60. III. Lento assai, cantate et tranquillo 08:35
61. IV. Grave ma non troppo tratto - Allegro 10:17
String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3
62. I. Allegro 07:40
63. II. Andante con moto 08:19
64. III. Allegro 02:51
65. IV. Presto 06:17
String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132
66. I. Assai sostenuto - Allegro 09:55
67. II. Allegro ma non tanto 08:35
68. III. Molto adagio 20:59
69. IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace 02:12
70. V. Finale (Allegro appassionato) 06:40
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