Artist: Narratio Quartet Title: Beethoven: Middle String Quartets Year Of Release: 2024 Label: Challenge Classics Genre: Classical Quality: flac lossless (tracks + scans) 24bits - 44.1kHz Total Time: 02:26:31 Total Size: 1.39 gb Tracklist CD1 01. String Quartet No.7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: I. Allegro 02. String Quartet No.7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 03. String Quartet No.7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: III. Adagio molto e mesto 04. String Quartet No.7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1: IV. Thème russe. Allegro 05. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2: I. Allegro 06. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2: II. Molto Adagio. Si tratta questo pezzo con molto di sentimento 07. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2: III. Allegretto 08. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2: IV. Finale. Presto CD2 01. String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3: I. Introduzione. Andante con moto - Allegro vivace 02. String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3: II. Andante con moto quasi Allegretto 03. String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3: III. Menuetto grazioso - Trio 04. String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3: IV. Allegro molto 05. String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74: I. Poco Adagio 06. String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74: II. Adagio ma non troppo 07. String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74: III. Presto 08. String Quartet No. 10 in E-Flat Major, Op. 74: IV. Allegretto con variazioni Beethoven’s string quartets were written in an era when chamber music was shifting from the salons of the nobility into the concert hall, and when chamber music ensembles were slowly but surely metamorphosing from being a pursuit for a mix of outstanding amateurs and professionals into a discipline for professionally trained musicians. In that sense the “Rasumowsky” quartets represent a turning point in the string quartet tradition. Count Rasumowsky, one of Beethoven’s principal patrons in the first decade of the nineteenth century and the Russian ambassador in Vienna, was also an excellent amateur violinist, playing second violin in the string quartet which he financed and which was led by the renowned Ignaz Schuppanzigh. The three quartets, Opus 59, which were dedicated to him, prompted him to give up his place in the quartet. He provided the members of this quartet with a fixed appointment in 1808, which even included a pension for life. Initially, the three Opus 59 quartets met with some resistance from the Viennese audiences. After the two opus numbers 18 and 59, both consisting of a group of quartets, opus 74 is a single work, generally considered as one of the most readily accessible