Danish String Quartet – Prism I (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Danish String Quartet – Prism I (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:18:12 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM New Series

For its third ECM release, the Danish String Quartet inaugurates a series of albums with the overarching title of Prism, in which the group will present one of Beethoven’s late string quartets in the context of a related fugue by J.S. Bach as well as a linked masterwork from the quartet literature.

With Prism 1, it is the first of Beethoven’s late quartets, his grand Op. 127 in E flat major, alongside Bach’s luminous fugue in the same key (arranged by Mozart) and Dmitri Shostakovich’s final string quartet, No. 15 in E flat minor, a haunted and haunting sequence of six adagios. The DSQ recorded the disc at the Reitstadel in Neumarkt, Germany, applying its lyricism and spirit of ensemble to the interconnected sound world of these three composers.

Hailed by the Washington Post as “one of the best quartets before the public today” and as simply “terrific” by The Guardian, the Danish String Quartet is now one of the world’s leading string quartets. In 2009, the DSQ took First Prize, plus four additional prizes, in the Eleventh London International String Quartet Competition. They also received the Carl Nielsen Prize, Denmark’s most important cultural award, in 2011. The group’s 2017 ECM album, Last Leaf, saw it explore the texturally rich, emotionally resonant world of Nordic folk music.

“There is probably no string quartet that I would rather hear play Beethoven at the moment than this foursome of three young Danes and their Norwegian cellist, who demonstrate unrivalled intensity, freedom in their playing and remarkable feel for the composer.” – David Allen, New York Times

Programs containing a Baroque or Classical work, a Romantic work, and a 20th century work used to be standard, and with its Prism series the Danish String Quartet, of which this release is the first, seems poised to bring new rigor to the concept. They intend not only to combine works from these eras but to pass from “a Bach fugue through one of the late Beethoven quartets to the music of a subsequent composer” and to draw “lines of connection” among them. On the latter count the quartet might have chosen more direct lines: the String Quartet No. 12 in E flat, Op. 127, is perhaps the least contrapuntal of the late Beethoven quartets, and it seems less connected to the agonized, irregular String Quartet No. 15 in E flat major of the dying Shostakovich than would one of the other late quartets, perhaps the String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, with its intense depiction of illness and recovery in its formally shocking central movement. Leaving these qualms aside, however, the performances are beautiful, with the quartet shifting effortlessly from smooth, almost glassy textures to violent paroxysms. The Bach fugue that opens the program (Mozart’s arrangement is used, which works well with the overall concept) sets a meditative space, and the Shostakovich, edgy and violent, and the Beethoven, mysteriously lyrical, form a compelling pair. Sample the Beethoven slow movement to hear the silent, spacious acoustic treatment given the Reitstadel Neumarkt by the ECM engineering staff, who have outdone themselves here. One awaits with pleasure future releases in the series.

Tracklist:
1-01. Danish String Quartet – The Well-Tempered Clavier- Book 2, BWV 870-893 – Fugue in E-Flat Major, BWV 876 (02:02)
1-02. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 15 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 144 – 1. Elegy. Adagio (13:27)
1-03. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 15 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 144 – 2. Serenade. Adagio (06:11)
1-04. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 15 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 144 – 3. Intermezzo. Adagio (01:36)
1-05. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 15 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 144 – 4. Nocturne. Adagio (04:23)
1-06. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 15 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 144 – 5. Funeral March. Adagio molto (05:03)
1-07. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 15 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 144 – 6. Epilogue. Adagio (06:49)
1-08. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 – 1. Maestoso – Allegro (06:45)
1-09. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 – 2. Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile (16:23)
1-10. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 – 3. Scherzo. Vivace (08:24)
1-11. Danish String Quartet – String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 – 4. Finale (07:06)

Personnel:
Danish String Quartet:
Frederik Øland, violin
Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, violin
Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola
Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, cello

Download:

https://hexload.com/mkz0v9dp0giu/DanishStringQuartetPrismI20182496.part1.rar
https://hexload.com/pv8umnz2sgoo/DanishStringQuartetPrismI20182496.part2.rar

https://xubster.com/btjgr81ziuvh/DanishStringQuartetPrismI20182496.part1.rar.html
https://xubster.com/y6j8s5pvp5k2/DanishStringQuartetPrismI20182496.part2.rar.html

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