Leoš Janáček; Hugo Wolf - String Quartets (Hagen Quartet)

Information

Composer: Leoš Janáček; Hugo Wolf

1. Janáček - String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": I. Adagio
2. Janáček - String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": II. Con moto
3. Janáček - String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": III. Con moto
4. Janáček - String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata": IV. Con moto
5. Janáček - String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": I. Andante
6. Janáček - String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": II. Adagio
7. Janáček - String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": III. Moderato
8. Janáček - String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters": IV. Allegro
9. Wolf - Italian Serenade in G major

Hagen Quartet
Lukas Hagen, violin
Rainer Schmidt, violin
Veronika Hagen, viola
Clemens Hagen, cello

Date: 1988
Label: Newton Classics (original on Deutsche Grammophon)
http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4276692

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

These are intense performances. The Hagen Quartet isn’t afraid to tear into the music with the necessary passion and abandon. In the frequent “sul ponticello” episodes (First quartet, second movement, for example, or the Second quartet’s finale) they aren’t afraid to make a harsh sound, but somehow they manage never to let the playing turn gratuitously ugly. They also pace both works very well. I’m thinking particularly of the First quartet’s finale, which builds to a tremendously powerful climax. God only knows what the Wolf is doing there; these are short works and there’s nothing wrong with a coupling, even this one, but I could think of other better, more generous choices. Never mind. The quality of the music-making speaks for itself.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/jan%C3%A1cek-wolf-chamber-works
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Dec11/Janacek_qts_8802072.htm
http://www.classical-music.com/review/jan%C3%A1cek-string-quartets-nos-1-2-0
http://www.allmusic.com/album/jan%C3%A1cek-streichquartette-nos-1-2-wolf-italienische-serenade-mw0001382582
http://www.amazon.com/Janacek-String-Quartets-Italian-Serenade/dp/B00000E4EJ

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Leoš Janáček (3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Much of Janáček's work displays great originality and individuality. Janáček belongs to a wave of twentieth-century composers who sought greater realism and greater connection with everyday life, combined with a more all-encompassing use of musical resources. Janáček is considered one of the most important Czech composers, along with Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo%C5%A1_Jan%C3%A1%C4%8Dek

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The Hagen Quartet was founded in 1981 by four siblings, Lukas, Angelika (first replaced by Annette Bik, who was then replaced by Rainer Schmidt in 1987), Veronika and Clemens, in Salzburg, Austria. They perform on the four famous Stradivarius instruments played previously by the Paganini Quartet, the Cleveland String Quartet, and the Tokyo String Quartet, respectively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagen_Quartet

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