The Bridge Quartet - Complete String Quartets Vol. 1 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Franz Ignaz Beck was a InchMannheim pupilInch from the very beginning. The son of the court oboist Franz Aloys Beck, he was taught by other court musicians after his father's early death before studying in Venice with Baldassare Galuppi and ultimately making his way via Naples to France. He was twenty-three when three of his symphonies won acclaim in Paris; yet he was soon drawn onward-to Marseille and then to Bordeaux, where, until 1798 (for more than thirty-five years), he served as Maître de Musique, overseeing operas and concerts as well as the performance of both his own works and those of others. The six symphonies Op. 4 date from his early years on the Garonne and are now presented complete. They represent Beck's final contributions to the genre in which he undertook bold yet successful experiments-stormy and urgent, filled with striking turns that electrified audiences and explain why he was sometimes hailed as the InchBerlioz of the eighteenth century.Inch The music from the melodrama Pandora, composed some twenty years later, forms an illuminating counterpoint.

The music of the Yorkshire-born Arnold Cooke (1906-2005) - inventively contrapuntal, lyrical and energetic in turns - does not deserve the neglect it suffered even in it's composer's lifetime. This second album of two presenting all five of Cooke's string quartets underlines his reputation for resourceful craftsmanship, presented in a style which sits downstream from Hindemith, with whom he studied in Berlin, and from Bartok. There is also a surprisingly strong dance element in all three works heard here, though tempered, even in their lighter moments, by something of the emotional reticence of Britten's quartets.

The five-disc album contains recordings made by the DAFO String Quartet over the past 30 years. Coming from the milieu of the Cracow music academy, the ensemble celebrates a round anniversary by taking the listeners on a time-travel adventure. It is no coincidence that the album's repertoire consists of recordings of Polish contemporary music - the DAFO String Quartet specializes in new music performance, for which it has been repeatedly recognized, including with a Fryderyk. The anniversary album holds not only sentimental value but also provides an interesting comparison of the oeuvre of Polish composers. Despite the differences and clearly recognizable unique styles, an attentive listener will also detect common features - including echoes of Polish melodies and rhythms, harmonies referring to folk music, as well as bold sonoristic solutions. The expressive interpretations of the DAFO String Quartet show the full range of sonic and expressive possibilities of a string quartet, also in combination with the clarinet and the piano, which make guest appearances in selected works.