Zemlinsky Quartet - Chamber Music with Clarinet - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Smetana's two string quartets could be said to be the first programmatic chamber music pieces ever written. The first quartet is a remarkable work with a very strong connection to Czech musicians. It belongs among the real treasures of Czech chamber music. The main characteristic of the second quartet is it's intensity of musical ideas, as the composer was deaf and close to the end of his life. The Dance of Comedians illustrates the famous era of Smetana ´s being considered the Czech national composer. An idiomatic account by one of Czech leading string quartets. Album Tracks 1. String Quartet No. 1 E Minor InchFrom My LifeInch~Allegro vivo appassionato 2. String Quartet No. 1 E Minor InchFrom My LifeInch~Allegro moderato à la Polka 3. String Quartet No. 1 E Minor InchFrom My LifeInch~Largo sostenuto 4. String Quartet No. 1 E Minor InchFrom My LifeInch~Vivace 5. String Quartet No. 2 D Minor~Allegro 6. String Quartet No. 2 D Minor~Allegro moderato. Andante cantabile 7. String Quartet No. 2 D Minor~Allegro non più moderato ma agitato e con fuoco 8. String Quartet No. 2 D Minor~Finale. Presto 9. Bartered Bride~Dance of Comedians

Hoffmeister's oeuvre is quite an extensive catalogue with a remarkable number of works for flute. Several flute concertos and numerous chamber line-ups in which the flute predominates, are at the forefront. Since the flute was very popular at the time, not only the composer but also the in Hoffmeister prospered. The quality of his music was high, and Hoffmeister became one of the best-known composers of his time. With nine operas, all performed scenically in the prominent Viennese theatres, he did better than many others. Schubert, for instance, could never attend a performance of one of his own operas during his lifetime. The rediscovery of the six clarinet quartets' first edition by Eddy Vanoosthuyse brought the three temporarily lost quartets back into their initial series of six quartets how Franz Anton Hoffmeister put them together. Also the foreseen of both volumes scores with three quartets each as it had been edited by Ignace Pleyel is epoch making and it is certainly an important contribution for the completion of Hoffmeister's work list to perform. Therefore, this complete recording of all six clarinet quartets is highly unique. Making recordings with top musicians is no mean feat in times of Corona, but Eddy Vanoosthuyse did not have to go on any complicated journey the six quartets were recorded in the Chamber Music Hall of the Concertgebouw in Bruges. For the Zemlinsky Quartet, which tours the world without any worry whatsoever in normal times, the situation was decidedly different. Checks, repeated tests in Prague and Brussels, and the utmost caution one very trip were mandatory. In spite of these setbacks, however, the five musicians were gung-ho, and presented themselves in optimal form at their stands. Album Tracks 1. Quartet VI in D 2. Quartet IV in BB 3. Quartet V in Eb 4. Quartet I in BB 5. Quartet II in Eb 6. Quartet III in a

Album Tracks 1. Concerto No. 4 in B Flat Major Fo 2 Clarinets & Orchestra 2. Orchestral Quartet in G Major for Trings 3. Concerto in B Flat Major for Clari Et and Orchestra