Quartetto Italiano: The complete RIAS Recordings (Berlin, 1951-1963) Quartetto Italiano

• Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848): String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor:
• 1 String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor: I. Agitatissimo 05:49
• 2 String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor: II. Adagio, ma non Troppo 05:31
• 3 String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor: III. Presto 04:51
• 4 String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor: IV. Marcia Lugubre 06:15
• Luigi Cherubini (1760 - 1842):String Quartet No. 5 in F Major:
• 5 String Quartet No. 5 in F Major: I. Moderato assai - Presto 07:56
• 6 String Quartet No. 5 in F Major: II. Adagio 06:50
• 7 String Quartet No. 5 in F Major: III. Scherzo. Allegro non Troppo 05:39
• 8 String Quartet No. 5 in F Major: IV. Finale. Allegro Vivace 05:16
• Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882 - 1973): String Quartet No. 4:
• 9 String Quartet No. 4: Allegro - 08:29
• 10 String Quartet No. 4: Allegro 06:42
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108:
• 11 String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108: I. Allegretto 03:33
• 12 String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108: II. Lento 04:05
• 13 String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108: III. Allegro 05:37
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937):String Quartet in F Major:
• 14 String Quartet in F Major: I. Allegro Moderato 08:44
• 15 String Quartet in F Major: II. Assez vif. Très Rythmé 06:58
• 16 String Quartet in F Major: III. Très Lent 09:05
• 17 String Quartet in F Major: IV. Vif et Agité 05:58
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 (D. 112):
• 18 String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 (D. 112): I. Allegro ma non Troppo 11:31
• 19 String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 (D. 112): II. Andante Sostenuto 10:13
• 20 String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 (D. 112): III. Menuetto. Allegro 06:00
• 21 String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 (D. 112): IV. Presto 04:51
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2:
• 22 String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2: I. Allegro Vivace 06:05
• 23 String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2: II. Andante, quasi Variazioni 08:14
• 24 String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2: III. Scherzo. Presto - Trio. L'istesso tempo - Coda 03:04
• 25 String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2: IV. Allegro molto Vivace 04:11
• Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809): String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 (Hob. III: 81):
• 26 String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 (Hob. III: 81): I. Allegro Moderato 05:41
• 27 String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 (Hob. III: 81): II. Adagio 07:53
• 28 String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 (Hob. III: 81): III. Menuetto. Presto 04:48
• 29 String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 (Hob. III: 81): IV. Finale. Presto 03:33
• Robert Schumann: String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3:
• 30 String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3: I. Andante espressivo - Allegro molto Moderato 05:54
• 31 String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3: II. Assai Agitato 07:52
• 32 String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3: III. Adagio Molto 08:18
• 33 String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3: IV. Finale. Allegro molto Vivace 07:24
• Total Runtime 03:32:50

Info for Quartetto Italiano: The complete RIAS Recordings (Berlin, 1951-1963)

The Quartetto Italiano, pioneer of Italian chamber music culture, was one of the leading string quartets of the 20th century. The complete RIAS radio productions, released here for the first time, testify to the ensemble’s exceptional stature, the remarkable homogeneity of its quartet sound, and the enormous breadth of its repertoire.

The ensemble's confidently-chosen name made it clear from the outset that the Quartetto Italiano saw itself not simply as an Italian string quartet among many, but as the authoritative one. The ensemble was soon recognized as a pioneer of Italian chamber music culture following the Second World War. Through their tireless obsession with detail, in-depth exploration of the works' musical expression, and the remarkable homogeneity of their quartet sound, the Quartetto Italiano conquered a firm place in the top league of leading string quartets over the first two decades of their career.

The first release of the complete productions realized by the Quartetto Italiano for Berlin's RIAS between 1951 and 1963 highlights two aspects that the musicians would increasingly neglect in their later recordings: firstly, the focus on the music of their fellow countrymen, represented here in rarely-heard works by Gaetano Donizetti, Luigi Cherubini, and Gian Francesco Malipiero; and secondly, the enormous breadth of their repertoire, which ranged from Joseph Haydn, the father of the classical string quartet, to Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh String Quartet (brand new at the time of the recording). Three works on this release (Cherubini, Donizetti, and Shostakovich) can be heard performed by the Quartetto Italiano for the first time on CD.

This release forms part of our series "Legendary Recordings" and bears the stamp "1st Master Release". The term stands for the exceptional quality of audite's archive releases which are all, without exception, produced using original tapes from the radio archives. Usually, these are the original analogue tapes with tape speeds of up to 76 cm/s, which are of astonishingly high quality, even by today's standards. In addition, the process of re-mastering - executed with professional expertise and sensitivity - reveals hitherto hidden details of the interpretations, creating a sonic image of superior quality. CD releases produced from private recordings of radio broadcasts or old 78rpm records cannot match this level of sound quality.

Quartetto Italiano

Digitally remastered

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Booklet for Quartetto Italiano: The complete RIAS Recordings (Berlin, 1951-1963)