Quartetto Italiano
The Quartetto Italiano is regarded as one of the finest string quartets of the twentieth century. The group generally focused on quartet-only repertory, avoiding performance with guest artists of quintets and other larger compositions. The ensemble's repertory was broad and included the entire quartet outputs of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Webern, and selected works of Galuppi, Vivaldi, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartók, Shostakovich, Villa-Lobos, Schoenberg, and many others.
Members of the Quartetto Italiano first met and performed as an ensemble in Siena, Italy, in 1942. But they did not officially bond until after the end of World War II, in summer 1945. The musicians, all still in their early twenties, adopted the name Nuovo Quartetto Italiano and debuted at Carpi, Italy, in November that year. (The Nuovo tag was dropped in 1951.) The personnel of the group were: Paolo Borciani (first violin), Elisa Pegreffi (second violin), Lionello Forzanti (viola), and Franco Rossi (cello).
1946 was a pivotal year for the group: it won competitions at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana and made a successful recording debut with the Debussy Quartet. They began touring Europe in 1947, but now with a new violist, Piero Farulli.
By the early 1950s the Quartetto Italiano had achieved a measure of international celebrity, though its repertory had not expanded significantly beyond French and Italian music, and their tone and approach were thought to lack depth. In 1952 Borciani and Pegreffi married. Around this time the four players had begun to evolve a more complex style, said to have resulted largely from mentoring by conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler.
By the 1960s the ensemble had developed a world-class reputation. Between 1967 and 1975 they recorded all the Beethoven string quartets for Philips, regarded by many as the finest of available cycles of the 15 masterworks. Numerous other works were recorded as well during this period for the same label, including the Prokofiev Second Quartet, and the Ravel and Debussy (which they recorded three times).
With their many successful tours at home and abroad (11 of North America by 1980) and their spate of acclaimed recordings, the group had probably reached its zenith by the mid-'70s. In 1977 Farulli became ill and was temporarily replaced by Dino Asciolla. Misunderstandings following Farulli's recovery led to the ultimate breakup of the group in 1980.
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Beethoven: The Middle Quartets
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Complete String Quartets/Clarinet Sonatas
Quartetto Italiano, George Pieterson, Hepzibah Menuhin
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Early String Quartets
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: 3 String Quartets Opp.3 No.5, 64 No.5 & 76 No.2
Quartetto Italiano, Paolo Borciani, Elisa Pegreffi, Piero Farulli, Franco Rossi
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 33 No. 3 "The Bird" - Hoffstetter: String Quartet, Op. 3 No. 5 "Serenade"
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jul 9, 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The String Quartets, Vol.2 (Complete Mozart Edition)
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: String Quartets Nos.13 & 14 "Death & the Maiden"
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76 Nos. 2 "Fifths" & 4 "Sunrise"
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jul 2, 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Boccherini: String Quartets, G. 213 & 243
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 21, 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The String Quartets, Vol.3 (Complete Mozart Edition)
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Late Quartets, Vol.2
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: String Quartet, Op. 41 No. 3 - Mozart: String Quartet No. 3, K. 156
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jun 18, 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: String Quartets Nos. 1-3
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: String Quartet No. 12; Borodin: String Quartet No. 2
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy & Milhaud: String Quartets
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jun 25, 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Quartetto Italiano - Il nostro concerto
Pop - Released by DV More on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Quintet Op.34
Maurizio Pollini, Quartetto Italiano
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Italian String Quartets
Chamber Music - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on Feb 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandes Epocas de la Música, Haydn: Sinfonia Nº 73
Orquesta de Cámara de Praga, Quartetto Italiano
Classical - Released by JamadaClassics on Nov 17, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boccherini, Mozart & Beethoven: String Quartets (Live)
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on Apr 30, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo