Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132; String Quartet No. 16, Op. 135

by Ehnes Quartet

Overview

The COVID lockdowns of 2020 stranded the members of the Ehnes Quartet in North America, and their planned Beethoven recordings in England were moved to Neva Langley Fickling Hall at Mercer University in Georgia. One piece of news from this recording and the other sessions that resulted is that this auditorium is an unsung acoustic gem, at least in the hands of the Onyx label's engineering team. The real draw, though, is the way Ehnes achieves an integrated string quartet texture that does not repress his contributions as first violinist. This is always a challenge with a chamber group that features a star player, and that's the reason all-star chamber groups rarely fare really well: they just don't jell. However, there is not a bit of mismatch in these tuneful Beethoven recordings, which evoke the classics by the Guarneri Quartet. The String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, Beethoven's swan song, alternates between lyricism and a kind of rough humor, and Ehnes and company are confidently on top of everything. There are more earth-shaking recordings of the String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, with its unheard-of Lydian-mode central slow movement, but here again, these are controlled, beautiful performances. There is, of course, absolutely no shortage of recordings of these works, but this release merits strong consideration from anybody who loves the Beethoven quartets. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	05/27/2022
Label:	Onyx Classics
UPC:	0880040422723
Rank:	176524

Tracks

1. String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132~I. Assai sostenuto - Allegro
2. String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132~II. Allegro ma non tanto
3. String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132~III. Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart: Molto adagio - Neue Kraft f¿¿hlend: Andante - Molto adagio - Andante - Mit innigster Empfindung: Molto adagio
4. String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132~IV. Alla marcia, assai vivace - Pi¿¿ allegro -
5. String Quartet No. 15 in A minor Op. 132~V. Allegro appassionato - Presto
6. String Quartet No. 16 in F Op. 135~I. Allegretto
7. String Quartet No. 16 in F Op. 135~II. Vivace
8. String Quartet No. 16 in F Op. 135~III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquilllo
9. String Quartet No. 16 in F Op. 135~IV. Der schwer gefasste Entschluss: Grave, ma non troppo tratto (Muss es sein?) - Allegro (Es muss sein!) - Grave, ma non troppo tratto - Allegro

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ehnes Quartet   Primary Artist,String Quartet

Technical Credits

Steve Moretti   Engineer
Arne Akselberg   Engineering Consultant
Anne Schneider   Liner Note Translation
Simon Kiln   Producer
Kiduck Kim   Design Consultant,Cover Photo
Matthew Cosgrove   Executive Producer
Ehnes Quartet   Liner Notes
Ludwig van Beethoven   Composer
Philip Borg-Wheeler   Liner Notes