Alban Berg Quartett - Hommage (5CDs, 2007)

[bloomtoo]

Artist: Alban Berg Quartett
Title Of Album: Hommage
Year Of Release: 2007
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC
Total: 06:15:11 min
Total Size: 1,56 Gb

Prior to the start of the group's farewell tour in 2008, EMI released this five-disc set entitled ABQ -- Alban Berg Quartett -- Hommage. In it are cherry-picked performances recorded between 1979 and 2000 from the Viennese quartet's wide-ranging catalog. Naturally, the group's namesake's Lyric Suite is included along with two Beethoven recordings, one early, one late. Partisans of the group have long asserted that the Alban Berg Quartet incarnated the deathless spirit of Viennese quartet playing. But though its focused vibrato and supple tempo rubato do sometimes evoke the memory of Alt Wien, the linear intensity, individualistic ensemble, and unrelenting concentration comes directly from the group's career-long engagement with contemporary music. Every work sounds utterly fresh in these performances, as if each were newly composed and this was its world premiere. The player's passion can appear to threaten the music in passages of highest expressivity, but instead of going down in flames, the performances somehow transcend the merely great for the truly sublime. It's amazing that this approach could work in such a wide range of repertoire, but the group pulls it off every time with performances as exciting as the best ever recorded.

Though the group's membership changed several times in its long career -- first violinist Günter Pichler and cellist Valentin Erben remained constant from the group's founding in 1971, but Gerhard Schulz replaced Klaus Maetzl after the original second violinist's death in 1978, and Thomas Kakuska replaced Hatto Beyerle after the original violist's death three years after that -- the Alban Berg Quartet were rightly considered one of the great quartets of their time. Taken together, these beautifully recordings form a superbly chosen overview of the group's career that will persuade listeners otherwise unfamiliar with them to seek out the rest of their recordings -- and no doubt regret that there will be no more. It should be added that Isabel Charisius became the group's third violist after Thomas Kakushka's death in 2005.

Tracklist:

CD1
1 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": I. Allegro 6:56
2 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": II. Poco adagio - Cantabile (Thema) -1:11
3 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": Variation I -1:07
4 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": Variation II -1:10
5 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": Variation III -1:11
6 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": Variation IV -1:45
7 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": III. Menuetto (Allegro) 4:26
8 String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 "Emperor": IV. Finale (Presto) 5:47
9 String Quartet No. 20 in D Major, K. 499, "Hoffmeister": I. Allegretto 9:31
10 String Quartet No. 20 in D Major, K. 499, "Hoffmeister": II. Menuetto (Allegretto) - Trio 2:53
11 String Quartet No. 20 in D Major, K. 499, "Hoffmeister": III. Adagio 8:00
12 String Quartet No. 20 in D Major, K. 499, "Hoffmeister": IV. Molto Allegro 5:13
13 String Quartet in F, Op.3 No. 5 Hob III/17 [Previously attributed to Haydn]: Andante antabile 5:21
14 String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op.135: I. Allegretto 6:19
15 String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op.135: II. Vivace 3:20
16 String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op.135: III. Lento assai e cantante tranquillo 8:27
17 String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op.135: IV. Grave ma non troppo tratto - Allegro 7:02

CD2
String Quartet No. 7 in F major ("Rasumovsky 1"), Op. 59/1
1 1. Allegro 9:34
2 2. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 8:44
3 3. Adagio molto e mesto -12:56
4 4. Allegro (Thème russe) 8:17

String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13
5 1. Adagio - Allegro vivace 7:41
6 2. Adagio non lento 6:38
7 3. Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto - Allegro di molto 4:29
8 4. Presto - Adagio non lento - Recit. - Adagio come I. 9:17

CD 3
1 Streichquartett Nr. 1 e-moll "Aus meinem Leben"
2 2. Allegro moderato à la polka 00:05:59
3 3. Largo sostenuto 00:08:47
4 4. Vivace 00:06:09
5 Streichquartett Nr. 2 "Intime Briefe"
6 2. Adagio 00:05:39
7 3. Moderato 00:05:28
8 4. Allegro 00:07:53
9 Streichquartett Nr. 4 Sz 91 (BB 95)
10 2. Prestissimo, con sordino 00:02:50
11 3. Non troppo lento 00:05:20
12 4. Allegretto pizzicato 00:02:54
13 5. Allegro molto 00:05:34

CD 4
Ravel - String Quartet in F
1 Streichquartett F-Dur
2 2. Assez vif - Très rhythmé 00:06:52
3 3. Très lent 00:09:19
4 4. Vif et agité 00:04:50

Berg - Lyric Suite for String Quartet
5 Lyrische Suite (für Streichquartett)
6 2. Andante amoroso 00:05:38
7 3. Allegro misterioso - Trio estatico 00:03:11
8 4. Adagio appassionato 00:05:19
9 5. Presto delirando - Tenebroso 00:04:30
10 6. Largo desolato 00:05:33

11 11. Stranvinsky - Double Canon (‘Raoul Dufy in Memoriam’) 00:01:31

Rihm - String Quartet No. 4
12 Streichquartett Nr. 4
13 2. Con moto, allegro - Andante - Allegro molto 00:06:56
14 3. Adagio 00:06:49

CD 5
01. Schubert - String Quartet No. 15 in G, D. 887
1 I. Allegro molto moderato
2 2. Andante un poco moto 00:12:21
3 3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace - Trio: Allegretto 00:06:58
4 4. Allegro assai 00:10:27
5 Marien-Walzer op. 143 00:08:29
6 Wiener Gemüths-Walzer op. 116 00:06:45
7 Die Werber op. 103 (Walzer) 00:08:29

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