Britten: String Quartets
Emperor Quartet
The Emperor Quartet gives a stupendous rendition of the Second Quartet, nuancing it with a fabulously imagined range of colour; it comes across as not only powerful but visionary...There are...
Britten: String Quartets
Emperor Quartet
Purchase product
The Emperor Quartet gives a stupendous rendition of the Second Quartet, nuancing it with a fabulously imagined range of colour; it comes across as not only powerful but visionary...There are...
About
Includes the world première recording of the Miniature Suite
The Emperor Quartet was established a decade ago by Martin Burgess, violin; Clare Hayes, violin; Fiona Bonds, viola and William Schofield, cello. They were first British group to win the Evian/Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition where they were also awarded the Mozart and Contemporary Prizes. In their 10th anniversary year the Quartet were nominated for a Grammy award for their recording of Walton String Quartets.
Contents and tracklist
Work length31:20
- Emperor Quartet
- Recorded: March 2007
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
I. Allegro calmo, senza rigore
Track length8:37
II. Vivace
Track length3:37
III. Chacony
Track length19:06
Britten:
3 Divertimenti for String Quartet (1936 Version)
Work length10:28
- Emperor Quartet
- Recorded: March 2007
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
No. 1, March
Track length3:45
No. 2, Waltz
Track length3:12
No. 3, Burlesque
Track length3:31
Work length10:18
- Emperor Quartet
- Recorded: March 2007
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
I. Novelette
Track length2:59
II. Menuetto
Track length3:10
III. Romanza
Track length1:58
IV. Gavotte
Track length2:11
Britten:
String Quartet in D Major (1974 Version)
Work length19:41
- Emperor Quartet
- Recorded: March 2007
- Recording Venue: Potton Hall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
I. Allegro maestoso
Track length8:58
II. Lento ed espressivo
Track length5:26
III. Allegro giocoso
Track length5:17
Awards and reviews
November 2010
The Emperor Quartet gives a stupendous rendition of the Second Quartet, nuancing it with a fabulously imagined range of colour; it comes across as not only powerful but visionary...There are sounds here that one mightn't have realised a string quartet could make.
Awards Issue 2010
In their very different ways these are highly imaginative works and they receive lively, engaging performances here...the Emperor Players...captur[e] the essential Britten style well - salt-sea splashes of sound, straight out of Peter Grimes, in the Vivace - and able to build up the final Chacony as inexorably as any.
October 2010
With the quality of the competition so consistently high, do we really need another recording of Britten quartets? When the playing is as outstanding as this, the answer is an irrevocable 'yes'...The inner parts are clearly audible and well-balanced.
26th August 2010
The Emperor Quartet play all three with the right mix of witty insouciance and technical accomplishment, but the group reveals its true colours in the Second Quartet.
