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Janacek & Smetana: String Quartets

Jerusalem Quartet

Janacek & Smetana: String Quartets

Awards:

There is much to admire here from the excellent Jerusalem Quartet. In Smetana's First Quartet there is the fine opening viola melody...The slow movements of the Janacek quartets are also carefully...

Janacek & Smetana: String Quartets

Jerusalem Quartet

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96 kHz, 24 bit, FLAC/ALAC/WAV

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44.1 kHz, 16 bit, FLAC/ALAC/WAV

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320 kbps, MP3

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This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now Hi-RES 96 kHz, 24 bit

Awards:

There is much to admire here from the excellent Jerusalem Quartet. In Smetana's First Quartet there is the fine opening viola melody...The slow movements of the Janacek quartets are also carefully...

About

One might see them as the father and the heir. On the one hand, Bedrich Smetana, whose oeuvre is regarded as having founded the Czech national school; on the other, Leoš Janácek, his spiritual son (with Dvorák acting as the link between the two), brought up in the same love of the national language and culture. While opera took up a central position in both men’s lives, chamber music, and the string quartet, in particular, gave their output the indispensable intimate coloration that allows us to read and listen to their innermost thoughts and feelings. The Jerusalem Quartet, former BBC New Generation Artist and winner of the first Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, is a welcome guest in the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals. The quartet’s discography on harmonia mundi has earned many international prizes and they were the first artist[s] to win 3 BBC Music Magazine Awards.

Contents and tracklist

I. Allegro vivo appassionato
Track length6:52
II. Allegro moderato a la Polka
Track length5:29
III. Largo sostenuto
Track length8:32
IV. Vivace
Track length5:25
I. Adagio. Con moto
Track length2:42
II. Con moto
Track length4:48
III. Con moto. Vivo. Andante
Track length4:30
IV. Con moto (Adagio). Più mosso
Track length5:19
I. Andante. Con moto. Allegro
Track length5:58
II. Adagio. Vivace
Track length6:08
III. Moderato. Andante. Adagio
Track length5:27
IV. Allegro. Andante. Adagio
Track length8:13

Awards and reviews

March 2014

There is much to admire here from the excellent Jerusalem Quartet. In Smetana's First Quartet there is the fine opening viola melody...The slow movements of the Janacek quartets are also carefully and thoughtfully played.

April 2014

The Jerusalem Quartet has ample reserves of poison as well as poise – and it attacks this music with quicksilver responsiveness to its shifting emotional landscape … An imposing release.

2nd March 2014

on this magnificent disc, from the viola’s fierce attack in the Smetana’s fourth bar, their high-voltage playing suits the music perfectly. It also brings out the kinship between the two composers.

19th January 2014

The Jerusalem Quartet brings all to life with rigour, intensity and lilting poise.
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