Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
The severe sound environment of the Maulbronn Abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the German state of Baden-Württemberg that dates to the twelfth century, has given rise to a series of recordings covering varying aspects of music from the Western concert tradition. That sound environment is put to intelligent use in this string quartet recital, which pairs well-worn pieces but gives them unusually intense interpretations that are heightened by the hard resonance of the sound. Sample the very beginning of the Schubert String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden"), to get yourself into the disc; the opening chords might be described as slashing. Move on to the second-movement variation set built on the song that gives the quartet its name; where many quartets let a sort of debilitated gloom hang over much of the movement, everything here is a life-and-death struggle. The stronger of the two performances on the disc is that of Janácek's 1928 String Quartet No. 2, subtitled "Intimate Letters," a hypersubjective work whose emotional content could have been drawn straight from one of Sigmund Freud's contemporaneous psychotherapy sessions. The work is as dissonant as almost any other of its period that does not completely reject tonality, but the dissonance is used in the service of untrammelled expression. The booklet notes are rather sparse, and in the case of a work as explicitly programmatic as this one a bit of explication might have helped -- the letters evoked are those between the composer and his married mistress. Yet the Amati Quartet's performance, ringing around the monastery walls, brings to mind, to use John le Carré's memorable simile, thoughts that are like birds stuck in a greenhouse. It's an extraordinary reading that rises to the moment offered by a specific performance space, and the disc as a whole, while not for those who like the emotional temperature of their classical music kept to medium, is decisively recommended to those wanting to try out the Maulbronn series.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, 'Death and the Maiden' (Franz Schubert)
Franz Schubert, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Franz Schubert, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Franz Schubert, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Franz Schubert, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
String Quartet No. 2, JW VII/13 "Intimate Letters" (Leoš Janáček)
Leos Janácek, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Leos Janácek, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Leos Janácek, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Leos Janácek, Composer - Amati Quartet, Ensemble, MainArtist
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Album review
The severe sound environment of the Maulbronn Abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the German state of Baden-Württemberg that dates to the twelfth century, has given rise to a series of recordings covering varying aspects of music from the Western concert tradition. That sound environment is put to intelligent use in this string quartet recital, which pairs well-worn pieces but gives them unusually intense interpretations that are heightened by the hard resonance of the sound. Sample the very beginning of the Schubert String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 ("Death and the Maiden"), to get yourself into the disc; the opening chords might be described as slashing. Move on to the second-movement variation set built on the song that gives the quartet its name; where many quartets let a sort of debilitated gloom hang over much of the movement, everything here is a life-and-death struggle. The stronger of the two performances on the disc is that of Janácek's 1928 String Quartet No. 2, subtitled "Intimate Letters," a hypersubjective work whose emotional content could have been drawn straight from one of Sigmund Freud's contemporaneous psychotherapy sessions. The work is as dissonant as almost any other of its period that does not completely reject tonality, but the dissonance is used in the service of untrammelled expression. The booklet notes are rather sparse, and in the case of a work as explicitly programmatic as this one a bit of explication might have helped -- the letters evoked are those between the composer and his married mistress. Yet the Amati Quartet's performance, ringing around the monastery walls, brings to mind, to use John le Carré's memorable simile, thoughts that are like birds stuck in a greenhouse. It's an extraordinary reading that rises to the moment offered by a specific performance space, and the disc as a whole, while not for those who like the emotional temperature of their classical music kept to medium, is decisively recommended to those wanting to try out the Maulbronn series.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 8 track(s)
- Total length: 01:02:42
- Main artists: Amati Quartet
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: K&K Verlagsanstalt
- Genre: Classical Chamber Music
(C) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt (P) 2011 K&K Verlagsanstalt
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.