Belcea Quartet – Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets – Plus Documentary (2020) [4 Blu-ray Discs]

Released Date: 2020
Label: EuroArts
Genre: Classical
Duration: 09:27:17 + 01:02:16 (Documentary)

Performers:
Belcea String Quartet
Corina Belcea, violin
Axel Schacher, violin
Krzystof Chorzelski, viola
Antoine Lederlin, cello

Video quality: Blu-ray 1080i
Format / Container: BDMV
Video Codec: H.264
Audio Codec: PCM, DTS

Available again in a repackaged format for the Beethoven Year 2020. This Belcea Quartet box brings a high-definition audiovisual reference recording of Beethoven´s Complete String Quartets to the market! Since 2006, the only filmed concert performance of Beethoven’s quartets available has been the Alban Berg Quartet’s DVD in 4:3 format. With this edition, released on the occasion of the Belcea Quartet’s 20th anniversary, EuroArts fills a niche for a high definition quality audiovisual production of Beethoven´s String Quartets available on Blu-ray.

The ensemble embarked on the mammoth task of playing the complete Beethoven string quartet cycle within a space of 12 days, recorded at the Wiener Konzerthaus in 2012. Every concert featured one work each from the early, middle and late quartets, including perhaps the most exciting of all works by Beethoven: the Opus 133, the “Große Fuge“ which he wrote as the finale of the quartet Opus 130. “This music, just sounds forever « avant-garde », I think in a way that perhaps no music written after the “Große Fuge“ manages to sound to this day”, explains the quartet’s viola player Krzysztof Chorzelski. In this recording, the Belcea Quartet performs the “Große Fuge” in one piece with Opus 130, which makes this performance even more thrilling.

This extraordinary edition not only includes the Belcea’s complete recordings of String Quartets from Vienna Konzerthaus but also a 47-minute bonus documentary “On the Paths of the Beethoven String Quartets” which brings us closer to the ensemble´s reflections on Beethoven´s quartets as well as on this unique project.

Disc 1

Duration: 02:19:00

Tracklist:

String Quartet In F Major, Opus 18 No.1
I. Allegro Con Brio
II. Adagio Affettuoso Ed Appassionato
III. Scherzo. Allegro molto
IV. Allegro
String Quartet In G Major, Opus 18 No.2
I. Allegro
II. Adagio cantabile
III. Scherzo. Allegro
IV. Allegro Molto, Quasi Presto
String Quartet in D Major, Opus 18 No. 3
I. Allegro
II. Andante con moto
III. Allegro
IV. Presto
String Quartet In C Minor, Opus 18 No.4
I. Allegro, Ma Non Tanto
II. Andante Scherzoso, Quasi Allegretto
III. Menuetto. Allegretto
IV. Allegro
String Quartet in A Major, Opus 18 No. five
I. Allegro
II. Menuetto – Trio
III. Andante cantabile
IV. Allegro

Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 22008 kbps / 1080i / 29.970 fps / 16: 9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio # 1: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio # 2: DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3646 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     BELCEA QUARTET
Disc Label:     Belcea.Quartet.Beethoven.The.Complete.String.Quartets.Disc1.2012
Disc Size:      31,018,953,781 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Extras:         BD-Java
BDInfo:         0.7.5.5

PLAYLIST REPORT:

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Length:                 2:18:59.764 (h:m:s.ms)
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Disc 2

Length: 02:51:19

Tracklist:
String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 18 No. 6
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio, ma non troppo
III. Scherzo. Allegro
IV. La malinconia. Adagio
V. Allegretto quasi allegro
String Quartet in F Major, Opus 59 No. 1
I. Allegro
II. Allegretto vivace e semper scherzando
III. Adagio molto e mesto
IV. Thème russe. Allegro
String Quartet in E Minor, Opus 59 No. 2
I. Allegro
II. Molto adagio
III. Allegretto
IV. Finale. Presto
String Quartet in C Major, Opus 59 No. 3
I. Andante con moto – Allegro vivace
II. Andante con moto quasi allegretto
III. Menuetto & Trio
IV. Allegro molto
String Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 74 “Harp”
I. Poco adagio – Allegro
II. Adagio ma non troppo
III. Presto
IV. Allegretto con variazioni

Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 22010 kbps / 1080i / 29.970 fps / 16: 9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio # 1: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio # 2: DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3601 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     BELCEA QUARTET
Disc Label:     Belcea.Quartet.Beethoven.The.Complete.String.Quartets.Disc2.2012
Disc Size:      38,049,932,204 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Extras:         BD-Java
BDInfo:         0.7.5.5

PLAYLIST REPORT:

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VIDEO:

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Disc 3

Duration: 02:26:13

Tracklist:
String Quartet in F Minor, Opus 95
I. Allegro con brio
II. Allegretto ma non troppo
III. Allegro assai vivace, ma serioso
IV. Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato – Allegro
String Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 127
I. Maestoso – Allegro
II. Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile
III. Scherzando vivace
IV. Finale
String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Opus 130
I. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro
II. Presto
III. Adante con moto, ma non troppo
IV. Alla danza tedesca, allegro assai
V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo
Vi. Finale. Allegro
String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Opus 130 with The Great Fuge for String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 133
I. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro
II. Presto
III. Adante con moto, ma non troppo
IV. Alla danza tedesca, allegro assai
V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo
Vi. Overtura. Allegro – Fuga

Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 22012 kbps / 1080i / 29.970 fps / 16: 9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio # 1: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio # 2: DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3585 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     BELCEA QUARTET
Disc Label:     Belcea.Quartet.Beethoven.The.Complete.String.Quartets.Disc3.2012
Disc Size:      32,488,648,355 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Extras:         BD-Java
BDInfo:         0.7.5.5

PLAYLIST REPORT:

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MPEG-4 AVC Video        22012 kbps          1080i / 29.970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

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Disc 4

Duration: 01:50:45 + 00:47:28 + 00:14:48

Tracklist:
String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Opus 131
I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
II. Allegro molto vivace
III. Allegro moderato
IV. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile
V. Presto
Vi. Adagio quasi un poco andante
Vii. Allegro
String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132
I. Allegro sostenuto – Allegro
II. Allegro ma non tanto
III. Molto adagio
IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace
String uartet in F Major, Opus 135
I. Allegretto
II. Vivace
III. Lento assai, cantabile e tranquilo
IV. Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro

Documentary Film Portrait [00:47:28]
EuroArts Trailers [00:14:48]

Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 22009 kbps / 1080i / 29.970 fps / 16: 9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio # 1: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio # 2: DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3597 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) (not in the documentary)
Subtitles (documentary): German, French

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     BELCEA QUARTET
Disc Label:     Belcea.Quartet.Beethoven.The.Complete.String.Quartets.Disc4.2012
Disc Size:      36,344,906,569 bytes
Protection:     AACS
Extras:         BD-Java
BDInfo:         0.7.5.5

PLAYLIST REPORT:

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4xBlu-ray Discs

Disc1