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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Brahms: Piano Quintet Op.34
Maurizio Pollini, Quartetto Italiano
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1980
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: String Quartet in G minor / Ravel: String Quartet in F
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 21.09.2016
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: String Quartets Nos. 14 "Spring" & 15
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 04.02.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Late String Quartets
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 01.01.1954
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: String Quartet - Stravisnky: Three Pieces for String Quartet
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 18.06.2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 10, Op. 74 "Harp"
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 07.02.2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets
Quartetto Italiano, Paolo Borciani, Elisa Pegreffi, Piero Farulli, Franco Rossi
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1996
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Galuppi, Boccherini & Cambini: Quartetti per archi
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 04.02.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gabrieli, Marini, Neri, Vitali, Scarlatti & Vivaldi: Il quartetto d'archi in Italia nel XVII secolo
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 11.02.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: String Quartet No. 17 "The Hunt" - Schubert: String Quartet No. 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 21.01.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Complete Edition Box 7: String Quartets, Quintets
Quartetto Italiano, Arthur Grumiaux, Eva Czako, Georges Janzer, Max Lesueur, Arpad Gérecz
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The String Quartets
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1986
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: The Last Four Quartets
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1995
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 67
Klassik - Erschienen bei Warner Classics am 11.02.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: String Quartet; Violin Sonata; Piano Trio
Quartetto Italiano, Arthur Grumiaux, Istvan Hajdu, Beaux Arts Trio
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1996
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The String Quartets, Vol.1 (Complete Mozart Edition)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quartetto Italiano: The complete RIAS Recordings (Berlin, 1951-1963)
Klassik - Erschienen bei audite Musikproduktion am 03.05.2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Webern: Complete Music for String Quartet
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Middle Quartets
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Complete String Quartets/Clarinet Sonatas
Quartetto Italiano, George Pieterson, Hepzibah Menuhin
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo