Trained in the art of quartet playing by Walter Levin of the LaSalle Quartet and the Alban Berg Quartet, the Artemis Quartett of Lübeck had been playing together for half a decade when it made this recording coupling two quartets by Beethoven, the Opus 59 No. 3 in C major and the Opus 132 in A minor, in 1999. With the Artemis' lean tone and solid ensemble, plus plenty of expressive fire in its interpretations, both are fine performances, but the C major is slightly finer. In the C major, the Artemis effortlessly strikes the ...
Read More
Trained in the art of quartet playing by Walter Levin of the LaSalle Quartet and the Alban Berg Quartet, the Artemis Quartett of Lübeck had been playing together for half a decade when it made this recording coupling two quartets by Beethoven, the Opus 59 No. 3 in C major and the Opus 132 in A minor, in 1999. With the Artemis' lean tone and solid ensemble, plus plenty of expressive fire in its interpretations, both are fine performances, but the C major is slightly finer. In the C major, the Artemis effortlessly strikes the right balance between recklessness and courage and its impulsive, impetuous performances capture the work's fusion of strength and sensitivity. But in the A minor, the Artemis stresses strength above sensitivity and the performance weighs too heavily in favor of emotional expressivity at the expense of spiritual intensity. Still, for the quality of a C major quartet, this recording is well worth hearing by those who follow German string quartet recordings, especially since the...
Read Less
Add this copy of Beethoven: String Quartets Op.59, No.3 & Op.132 to cart. $29.98, new condition, Sold by We Ship FAST to YOU rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wilmington, NC, UNITED STATES, published 2000 by Ars Musici.
