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
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Italian String Quartets
Chamber Music - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on 1 Feb 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 17 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: The String Quartets
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1986
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Mozart & Boccherini: Quatuors à cordes (Mono Version)
Quartetto Italiano, Paolo Borciani, Elisa Pegreffi, Piero Farulli, Franco Rossi
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Boccherini, Mozart & Beethoven: String Quartets (Live)
Classical - Released by Ica Classics on 30 Apr 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Quartetto Italiano Plays Schubert, Debussy & Milhaud
Classical - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn & Mozart: String Quartets Op. 77, No. 1 - No. 2 in D major, K155 - Op. 64, No. 6
Classical - Released by Infinity on 18 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn, Mozart & Brahms
Quartetto Italiano, Albert Spalding, Ernő Dohnányi
Quartets - Released by Altair on 7 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Quatuors à cordes Nos. 2 & 23 (Mono Version)
Quartetto Italiano, Paolo Borciani, Elisa Pegreffi, Piero Farulli, Franco Rossi
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi maestri dell'interpretazione: Quartetto Italiano (Live)
Chamber Music - Released by Stradivarius on 4 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Busoni: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Quartetto Italiano, Hamann Quartet
Chamber Music - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on 1 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Quintette pour clarinette et cordes, K. 581 (Mono Version)
Antoine-Pierre de Bavier, Quartetto Italiano, Paolo Borciani, Elisa Pegreffi, Piero Farulli, Franco Rossi
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Quatuor à cordes No. 3 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : String Quartet No. 10 (Mono Version)
Chamber Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: String Quartet No. 12; Borodin: String Quartet No. 2
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: String Quartet NO. 1 in G Major, OP. 77 - Mozart: String Quartet NO. 2 in D Major, K155 - Haydn: String Quartet NO. 6 in E Flat Major, OP. 64 (Live)
Classical - Released by Altair on 20 Oct 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms & Haydn
Albert Spalding, Ernő Dohnányi, Quartetto Italiano
Classical - Released by Altair on 7 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner & Beethoven
Strub Quartet, Emil Seiler, Quartetto Italiano
Quartets - Released by Altair on 10 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy & Milhaud: Quatuors à cordes (Mono Version)
Quartetto Italiano, Paolo Borciani, Elisa Pegreffi, Piero Farulli, Franco Rossi
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Quatuor No. 9, Op. 59 No. 3 - Schubert: Quartettsatz (Mono Version)
Quartetto Italiano, Paolo Borciani, Elisa Pegreffi, Piero Farulli, Franco Rossi
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo