Hoffmann / Koln - String Quartets - SUPER-AUDIO CD [Super Audio CD (SACD)]

This second and last volume completes two different sets of string quartets the four so-called Solo Quartets by Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Gioachino Rossini's six String Sonatas (or Sonate a quattro). Both sets differ from the 'normal' configuration in that they allow a double bass to take part, albeit in different roles. Rossini, who composed his sonatas at the age of 12 (!), left out the viola and gave the double bass a more or less conventional bass role - apart from the occasional virtuosic outburst. The sonatas were first published in an arrangement for traditional string quartet and are often heard performed by string orchestras. In Vienna, where he was active as a composer and music , Hoffmeister (1754-1812) chose a different solution than Rossini and gave his double bass player a leading role in the ensemble, letting it replace the first violin. It was no coincidence that this happened in Vienna - considering the amount of solo works for the double bass composed there, the standard of playing must have been exceptional. On the present recording, it is the Dutch player Niek de Groot who takes up Hoffmeister's challenge in the company of a Finnish trio consisting of Minna Pensola, Antti Tikkanen and Tuomas Lehto. Featuring the same team, Volume 1 (BIS-2317) was as described by a reviewer in Gramophone as 'entertaining, effortlessly enjoyable and beautifully performed' upon it's in 2017.

Schumann Quartett - String Quartets [SUPER-AUDIO CD] Hybrid SACD date 01/01/2013

It is a young, fresh, unspoiled view on the music of centuries past that has secured the Schumann Quartet, since it's foundation in 2007, the uninterrupted attention of music public. Together with Estonian violist Lisa Randalu, the ensemble's latest Ars Production brings their unmistakable enthusiasm and breathtaking technical sovereignty to three very different works by Mozart, Verdi and Ives that have been in the quartet's repertoire for some time, maturing over many concert performances. InchNo doubt The future belongs to this quartet.Inch (Ensemble Magazine)