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Beethoven: Complete String Quartets / Suske Quartet

Beethoven / Suske Quartett
Release Date: 06/25/2013 
Label:  Brilliant Classics   Catalog #: 94672   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Karl Suske,  Klaus Peters,  Karl-Heinz Dommus,  Matthias Pfaender
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Number of Discs: 7 
Recorded in: Stereo 
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Notes and Editorial Reviews

The genius of Beethoven is probably not most commonly associated with chamber music. Indeed, for considerable stretches of his career he avoided the string quartet, a musical form with such an exalted status at the time; he mostly took on the challenge towards the ends of what are often regarded as his two 'creative periods'. When he did, however, he was at the pinnacle of his chamber music abilities.

The pieces in this collection can be grouped according to three distinct periods of Beethoven's life. The first set are to some extent indebted to Haydn and Mozart -- as the melancholic Op.18 No.6 shows in particular -- but equally show Beethoven starting to forge a new path of his own. The (at the time) somewhat misunderstood Read more middle set stretch the quartet form to near-symphonic length, and add a level of virtuosity worthy of the concert hall rather than the traditionally private sphere of chamber music. Finally, the last set transcend the composer's previous quartets both in form and harmony to reach a level of technical abstraction that was not recognised for its brilliance until after the composer's life -- a quality audible especially in the quartet in B flat major, which Beethoven's biographer referred to as a 'monster of quartet music'.

The pieces are performed by the Suske Quartett, a German quartet whose popularity was at its height in the 1970s, and for whom recording Beethoven was a staple of their musical life: the recording career of the group's original line-up both began and ended with Beethoven pieces.

Other information:
- The complete Beethoven String Quartets, featuring one of the elite ensembles of former East Germany: Primarius Karl Suske was concert master of the Berliner Staatskapelle, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, and his string quartet represents the best German tradition of Beethoven understanding and interpretation.
- Recorded in the 70's, and having lost nothing of its grandeur and patina. The recording is of excellent quality, the golden standard of the Eterna recordings.
- Booklet contains notes on the music and a biography of the Suske Quartett. Read less

Works on This Recording

1.
Quartet for Strings no 1 in F major, Op. 18 no 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Karl Suske (Violin), Klaus Peters (Violin), Karl-Heinz Dommus (Viola),
Matthias Pfaender (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1798/1800 
 Date of Recording: 11/1976 
Venue:  Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany 
Length: 28 Minutes 5 Secs. 
2.
Quartet for Strings no 2 in G major, Op. 18 no 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Karl Suske (Violin), Klaus Peters (Violin), Karl-Heinz Dommus (Viola),
Matthias Pfaender (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1798/1800 
 Date of Recording: 02/1976 
Venue:  Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany 
Length: 22 Minutes 44 Secs. 
3.
Quartet for Strings no 3 in D major, Op. 18 no 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Karl Suske (Violin), Klaus Peters (Violin), Karl-Heinz Dommus (Viola),
Matthias Pfaender (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1798/1800 
 Date of Recording: 09/1976 
Venue:  Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany 
Length: 22 Minutes 54 Secs. 
4.
Quartet for Strings no 4 in C minor, Op. 18 no 4 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Karl Suske (Violin), Klaus Peters (Violin), Karl-Heinz Dommus (Viola),
Matthias Pfaender (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1798/1800 
 Date of Recording: 10/1976 
Venue:  Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany 
Length: 23 Minutes 33 Secs. 
5.
Quartet for Strings no 5 in A major, Op. 18 no 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Karl Suske (Violin), Klaus Peters (Violin), Karl-Heinz Dommus (Viola),
Matthias Pfaender (Cello)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: 1798/1800 
 Date of Recording: 12/1976 
Venue:  Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany 
Length: 26 Minutes 33 Secs. 
6.
Quartet for Strings no 6 in B flat major, Op. 18 no 6 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Matthias Pfaender (Cello), Karl Suske (Violin), Klaus Peters (Violin),
Karl-Heinz Dommus (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1798/1800 
 Date of Recording: 05/1977 
Venue:  Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany 
Length: 25 Minutes 4 Secs. 
7.
Minuet for String Quartet in A flat major, Hess 33 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:  Matthias Pfaender (Cello), Karl Suske (Violin), Klaus Peters (Violin),
Karl-Heinz Dommus (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: circa 1790; Vienna, Austria 
 Venue:  Lukaskirche, Dresden, Germany 
Length: 2 Minutes 59 Secs. 
8.
Quartet for Strings no 7 in F major, Op. 59 no 1 "Razumovsky" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1805-6 
9.
Quartet for Strings no 8 in E minor, Op. 59 no 2 "Razumovsky" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: 1805-1806; Vienna, Austria 
10.
Quartet for Strings no 9 in C major, Op. 59 no 3 "Razumovsky" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1805/6 
11.
Quartet for Strings no 10 in E flat major, Op. 74 "Harp" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: 1809; Vienna, Austria 
12.
Quartet for Strings no 11 in F minor, Op. 95 "Serioso" by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1810 
13.
Quartet for Strings no 12 in E flat major, Op. 127 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: 1823-1825; Vienna, Austria 
14.
Quartet for Strings no 13 in B flat major, Op. 130 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: 1825-1826; Vienna, Austria 
15.
Grosse Fuge for String Quartet in B flat major Op. 133 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: 1825-1826; Vienna, Austria 
16.
Quartet for Strings no 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1826 
17.
Quartet for Strings no 15 in A minor, Op. 132 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Period: Classical 
Written: 1825; Vienna, Austria 
18.
Quartet for Strings no 16 in F major, Op. 135 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Suske String Quartet
Written: 1826 

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