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Enescu: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

Ad Libitum Quartet

Enescu: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

Awards:

Enescu's 1920 First Quartet crams so much into 45-odd minutes that even two or three hearings barely scratch its surface. It's a veritable forest of invention, fairly Brahmsian in texture, organic...

Enescu: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

Ad Libitum Quartet

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Awards:

Enescu's 1920 First Quartet crams so much into 45-odd minutes that even two or three hearings barely scratch its surface. It's a veritable forest of invention, fairly Brahmsian in texture, organic...

About

Contents and tracklist

Allegro moderato
Track length13:05
Andante pensieroso
Track length10:26
Allegretto scherzando, non troppo vivace
Track length6:37
Allegretto moderato
Track length15:58
Molto moderato
Track length5:57
Andante molto sostenuto ed espressivo
Track length9:19
Allegretto non troppo mosso
Track length4:01
Con moto - Molto moderato, Energico
Track length8:11

Awards and reviews

  • Gramophone Magazine
    January 2002
    Editor's Choice

2010

Enescu's 1920 First Quartet crams so much into 45-odd minutes that even two or three hearings barely scratch its surface. It's a veritable forest of invention, fairly Brahmsian in texture, organic in its thinking and frequently dramatic. The second movement incorporates sundry embellishments and effects (including the use of sulponticello), and the finale features variations on a march-like theme. It will make wonderful if challenging listening for anyone who values quality ideas above economical structuring.
Although the two quartets share the single opus number, they're years apart chronologically, aeons if you consider their contrasting styles. The Second Quartet was Enescu's penultimate work, and breathes the heady aroma of Romanian folk music, especially in the slow movement and finale, which recall the world of the far better-known Third Violin Sonata.
Shorter than the First Quartet by almost half, the Second feels tighter and more agile.
The Ad Libitum Quartet do a fabulous job.
They attend to Enescu's endless technical demands with a devotion that translates to apparent effortlessness. Naxos's superior production secures a top recommendation and unbeatable value too.

January 2002

I'm sure it won't come amiss if I can persuade you to listen to a real sleeper, the disc of Enescu's string quartets.
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