Pavel Haas Quartet - String Quartets 1 & 2 - VINYL LP

Album Tracks 1. I. Allegro vivo appassionato 7 39 2. II. Allegro moderato à la polka 5 39 3. III. Largo sostenuto 8 57 4. IV. Vivace 6 00 (Tracks 1-4 String Quartet No. 1 in E minor;From My Life; 1876 28 32) 5. I. Allegro 5 27 6. II. Allegro moderato Andante cantabile 5 44 7. III. Allegro non più moderato, ma agitato e con fuoco 4 44 8. IV. Finale. Presto 2 54 (Tracks 5 - 8 String Quartet No. 2 in D minor 1882 83 19 03)

This recording, although relatively new, is one of the rarest gems in the Supraphon archives. After the initial positive reactions the extraordinary quality of the recording was confirmed by prestigious Gramophone Awards; in addition to winning the chamber music category, the young ensemble also brought home from London the top prize Recording of the Year. Eight years after the first edition, Supraphon is releasing this delicacy for true audiophiles. Dvorák's mature works perhaps best mirror the ensemble's extraordinary qualities the equilibrium between precision and spontaneity, the remarkable ensemble playing, and the solo potential of all of the individual players. At the end of the draft of his Quartet Op. 96, Antonín Dvorák wrote the comment InchI'm satisfied; it went quickly...Inch Soon after the InchNew World SymphonyInch, he composed one of the most beautiful of all string quartets while still in America - and the critics were unsparing in their praise. For the Pavel Haas Quartet, both the InchAmericanInch Quartet and the following Quartet Op. 106, the first work composed after the composer's return home from America, are literally affairs of the heart. According to the Sunday Times InchIn this repertoire, they are simply matchless today.Inch Dvorák might even have written his comment InchI'm satisfiedInch about this recording as well. Album Tracks 1. String Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106 2. String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 InchAmericanInch

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was a genius. Naturally he was most widely known and rewarded as one of the founding composers of Hollywood film music, but he is not a particularly well-known composer in the classical music world. His three string quartets are surely masterpieces and can be seen as modern tone poems imbued with beautiful melancholy and Viennese charm. A child prodigy, Korngold wrote some of the most heart-wrenching melodies, which are sure to leave any listener longing for more. His String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26 (1933) was written just before Korngold moved to Hollywood and is full of musical imagery of Vienna, with gestures towards the waltzes of Johan Strauss II as well as the intricate lyricism of Richard Strauss. A fierce anti-serialist, Korngold was determined that it was still possible to stretch the boundaries of tonality without adapting to the 12-tone technique. The String Quartet No. 3, Op. 34 (1945) is full of themes that he used in his film scores and was written when Korngold was suffering from deep depression. The quartet is much darker. Why did we choose to tackle Korngold's music for this unique project of a direct-to-disc recording on vinyl? The music resonates deeply with us, as it represents the epitome of late romanticism and lyrical expression. We all have a profound love for romantic music and after listening to some recordings of his quartets we knew instantly these were the perfect fit for us. It was definitely a challenge to understand the idiom in Korngold's writing. Our individual personalities as well as the Alma sound is clearly audible. Album Tracks 1. String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26 2. String Quartet No. 3, Op. 34