Elias String Quartet
String Quartets by Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert
Recorded live at Wigmore Hall,
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Complete CD Track Listing
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Winner of Best Newcomer - BBC Music Magazine Awards 2010
- Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor D703
- Mozart String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K465 ‘Dissonance’
- Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op.
44, No. 2
About this CD
Described as “quite exceptional” Gramophone and a group that is “poetic, charismatic and virtuosic” Sunday Telegraph, the Elias String Quartet is considered one of the most fresh and exciting quartets of their generation.
This live recital recording captures the young quartet’s fervent passion and infectious enthusiasm for the music of Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert.
The recording opens with Schubert’s great unfinished work, the Quartettsatz in C minor, considered to be the forerunner of the late great string quartets for which Schubert is best remembered. This is followed by Mozart's famous ‘Dissonance’ quartet, dedicated to Joseph Haydn.
The programme ends with Felix Mendelssohn. With 2009 being Mendelssohn’s bicentenary year, the Elias String Quartet chose this work to showcase a side of the composer’s genius they believe is highly underrated.
After winning all the Royal Northern College of Music quartet awards, they spent a year studying with the Alban Berg Quartet in Cologne. They have since received many honours at major international competitions, including multiple awards at the 2003 London International String Quartet Competition.
Elias String Quartet
- Sara Bitlloch violin
- Donald Grant violin
- Martin Saving viola
- Marie Bitlloch cello
Track Listing
Schubert
1. Quartettsatz in C minor D703: I Allegro assai
Mozart
String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K465 ‘Dissonance’
2. Adagio-Allegro
3. Andante cantabile
4. Menuetto. Allegro.
5. Allegro molto
Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op.
44, No. 2
6. Allegro assai appassionato
7. Scherzo. Allegro di molto
8. Movement 3: Andante
9. Movement
4: Presto agitato
Reviews
"The soaring performance of Mendelssohn's E minor String Quartet Op. 44 No. 2 alone justifies the cost of this CD. The impassioned opening, crisp scherzo, song-like andante and urgent agitato finale make it among the composer's most satisfying works, here warmly played ... the musicianship of this young quartet is irresistible" The Observer
"As a debut disc, this is scarcely credible. The performances, recorded live at Wigmore Hall, have a refinement, vigour and emotional depth suggesting that the Elias String Quartet has nothing further to aspire to. One could not reasonably ask for more searching, subtle, self-possessed, sheerly beautiful accounts of Mozart’s Dissonance quartet, K465, or Mendelssohn’s E minor quartet, Op. 44, No. 2, not to mention Schubert’s Quartettsatz. The players are individually brilliant, but their interplay is profound, and it is no doubt significant that first violin and cello, melody and bass, are sisters (Sara and Marie Bitlloch). The recording is ideally balanced for a string quartet" The Sunday Times
"The members of the Elias Quartet produce cultured and insightful performances" Classical Source
"Many think this young quartet will be
the next Amadeus, and these performances support such a view. Their mutual rapport is obvious and their performance of Mozart's
'Dissonance' Quartet (K465) reveals a deep affinity with the composer" Sunday Telegraph
Product Details
- Cat. Number: WHLIVE0028
- Recorded: 29 December 2008