Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 4
Escher String Quartet
this is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner; extrovert and eloquent. Rich tone, good balance and a particularly noteworthy expressiveness from the first violin, Adam Barnett-Hart,...
Mendelssohn: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 4
Escher String Quartet
Purchase product
this is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner; extrovert and eloquent. Rich tone, good balance and a particularly noteworthy expressiveness from the first violin, Adam Barnett-Hart,...
About
With their début disc on BIS, the Eschers launch a three-disc cycle of Mendelssohn’s string quartets, including the unnumbered String Quartet in E flat major and – on coming instalments – the four pieces for string quartet Op. 81. The quartet genre accompanied Mendelssohn throughout his life, from the previously mentioned E flat major quartet – which he composed at the age of 14 – to String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, his last major work, completed only two months before his death in 1847. As a body of work, the quartets demonstrate many of Mendelssohn’s finest qualities as a composer – his fascination for and understanding of the music of both Bach and Beethoven, his affinity for string instruments, and that gift for melody as well as texture which has made his Lieder ohne Worte and the elfin music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream so eternally popular. Composed in 1829, the Quartet Op. 12 is still an early work – from the time of the Hebrides Overture – while the E minor quartet, Op. 44 No. 2, can be counted as one of the first master-pieces by the mature composer.
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Awards and reviews
August 2015
this is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner; extrovert and eloquent. Rich tone, good balance and a particularly noteworthy expressiveness from the first violin, Adam Barnett-Hart, who offers that rare ability not only to sing but also to speak through the instrument.
August 2015
The Escher are fervent advocates of [the E flat Quartet], imbuing the slow movement with a luxuriant warmth…there's no doubting the players' musicianship or technical ability, which are caught with admirable immediacy.
11th June 2015
the Eschers sound warm, relaxed and responsive to all of Mendelssohn’s expressive nuances...They lavish full, red-blooded tone on the slow movement of the genial Quartet No 1, and in the restless Quartet No 4 they keep the momentum striving forward, with first violinist Adam Barnett-Hart spinning long, seamless phrases.
