BaL 24.11.18 - Mendelssohn: String Quartet no. 2 in A minor Op.13

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

09.30
Building a Library: Harriet Smith listens to some of the available recordings of Mendelssohn's String Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.13,
Mendelssohn was still a teenager when in 1827 he composed his 2nd String Quartet in A minor, Op.13, yet he had already written a number of other impressive chamber works including his much-loved and celebrated Octet. This String Quartet No.2, written the year in which Beethoven died, represents Mendelssohn's first mature string quartet. The influence of Beethoven on Mendelssohn can also be heard in this string quartet. It is a highly passionate work and its four movements (Adagio - Allegro vivace; Adagio non lento; Intermezzo & Presto - Adagio non lent) are unified by a theme 'ist es wahr?' (is it true?) first heard in the opening bars.

Available recordings:-

Afiara Quartet
Alban Berg Quartet
Alberni String Quartet
Arcadia Quartet (download)
Artemis Quartet
Asasello Quartet
Aurora String Quartet
Bartholdy Quartett
Beethoven Quartet (SACD)
Bergonzi Quartet
Cavaleri Quartet (download)
Cherubini Quartet
Chiaroscuro Quartet (download)
Cleveland Quartet
DaPonte String Quartet
David Oistrakh String Quartet (download)
Elias String Quartet
Emerson String Quartet
Eroica Quartet (download)
Escher String Quartet (SACD)
Gabrieli String Quartet (download)
Gewandhaus Quartet
Guarneri Quartet (download)
Hausmusik London (download)
Henschel String Quartet (download)
Juilliard String Quartet
Klenke String Quartet (download)
Kocian Quartet (SACD)
Kremerata Baltica (download)
LaSalle Quartet (download)
Leipziger Streichquartett
Maggini Quartet
Mandelring Quartet (SACD)
Melos Quartet (download)
Minetti Quartet
Minguet Quartet
Modigliani Quartet (download)
New Zealand String Quartet
Pacifica Quartet
Quatuor Arod
Quatuor Arriaga
Quatuor Ebène
Quatuor Mosaïques
Quatuor Ysaÿe
Ragazze Quarte
Sacconi String Quartet
St. Petersburg String Quartet
Shanghai Quartet
Sharon Quartet
Sorrel Quartet
Talich Quartet (download)
Tetzlaff Quartett
Tinalley String Quartet
Tippett Quartet
Utrecht String Quartet
Windermere String Quartet (download)
Ysaye Quartet (download)

[Bryn]

I find the Eroica Quartet rather special, though I have the CD, which seems no longer to be readily available.

[vinteuil]

I find the Eroica Quartet rather special, though I have the CD, which seems no longer to be readily available.

... yes, the Eroica Qtt wd be my choice -

http://amzn.eu/d/6kaPhiy

All three CDs of the Mendelssohn quartets with the Eroica are a bit special - here are the other two :

http://amzn.eu/d/drTGfAB

http://amzn.eu/d/8r1OI7t

.

[Bryn]

... yes, the Eroica Qtt wd be my choice -

http://amzn.eu/d/6kaPhiy

All three CDs of the Mendelssohn quartets with the Eroica are a bit special - here are the other two :

http://amzn.eu/d/drTGfAB

http://amzn.eu/d/8r1OI7t

.

Hopefully, Vol. 1 is not as the amazon.co.uk track listing has it, i.e. there is no piano concerto on the disc. The mp3 listing reflects the true content.

[gurnemanz]

A few years ago I decided to get to know these works and went for the Cherubini who were well reviewed and all six quartets were on a cheap EMI threefer. I have been very pleased with them but I don't know any other versions, so my recommendation may be of limited value. I'm slightly surprised Alpen's list is so long - I thought they were a bit neglected.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm slightly surprised Alpen's list is so long - I thought they were a bit neglected.

I think the number of "download only" versions suggest they are not much of commercial proposition.

[Bryn]

I think the number of "download only" versions suggest they are not much of commercial proposition.

No, it's just that some are aimed at those living in the 21st Century. The Eroica Quartet, for instance, now release their work through Resonus Classics, which is a download only 'label'. In the past they were handled by Harmonia Mundi, then Hyperion (Mozart Horn Quintet with Pip Eastop).

[BBMmk2]

Don’t know very much about Mendelssohn’s chamber music, so this should prove rather enlightening.

[Bryn]

Don’t know very much about Mendelssohn’s chamber music, so this should prove rather enlightening.

Nor did I until a rave review of Volume 1 of the Eroica Quartet's survey prompted me to dip my toe in. I was hooked, though other performances I have since heard have not had quite the impact. That could, of course, have much to do with the Eroica's being my introduction to the work, but then, maybe not. Similarly, it was Frederic Rzewski's advocacy for the Songs without Words which awoke my ears to those.

[visualnickmos]

A Mendelssohn string quartet!
At last - what took 'them' so long?

[MickyD]

The excellent Eroica recordings are in my library, but so is that of the earlier Hausmusik recording, which I also adore.

[rauschwerk]

I have the Carmina (Denon nla), the Melos and the Chiaroscuro. Those will do me very nicely I think.

[Bryn]

I have the Carmina (Denon nla), the Melos and the Chiaroscuro. Those will do me very nicely I think.

The Chiaroscuro is very fine, to be sure, but in addition to the superb performance of Op. 13 (not Op.23 as in the thread title), the Eroica Quartet recorded the lot, in 3 volumes.

[AmpH]

I have 3 complete sets of the quartets - the New Zealand Quartet on Naxos and Leipzig Quartet on MDG are both very fine, but I am usually drawn to the excellent Henschel Quartet on Arte Nova when I want to listen to these works.

[zola]

I'm not one who overly bothers about such things but for those who don't like spoilers, don't look at the Record Review track listings for tomorrow which already give the building a library results.