Product Description

Artemis Quartets questing and thought-provoking approach to repertoire is evident in this new album of Mendelssohn string quartets released by Erato. The Artemis Quartets cellist, Eckart Runge, feels that Mendelssohn is still a misunderstood composer. Some people continue to view him as somehow superficial and lacking in substance. The truth is that he was a huge talent and a huge intellect.... His quartets are both highly sophisticated and profoundly eloquent they have both great emotional directness and that particular depth that characterises many composers work in the genre. The new CD, containing three of Mendelssohns six quartets, brings works from three distinct periods in the composers life: No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13, written in 1827 when he was still a teenager; No. 3 in D major, Op. 44, No. 1, from 1838 by which stage he was already at the peak of his career; and No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80, composed just months before he died at the age of 38. No. 2 and No. 6 could both be described as quite radical works, while No. 3 is more academic in character, showing his mastery of the form, explains Eckart Runge. No 2 is tightly and daringly written, taking inspiration from Beethovens Op. 132. [String quartet] No. 6 is even more radical, though; it was written shortly after the death of Mendelssohns beloved sister, Fanny. He concentrates the expression of his grief into 23 minutes of music. It is dense and intensely emotional, with no room for wasted thoughts or decorative elements.

Review

The Berlin-based Artemis Quartet sheds new light on Mendelssohn with three works from three distinct periods in the composer's career: his late adolescence, the year before he turned 30, and the final months of his short life, overshadowed by the death of his beloved sister. The quartets of Mendelssohn featured prominently in the Artemis Quartet's performing schedule for 2012 and 2013. They appeared on programs with works by Beethoven and Schubert, but also - more unexpectedly - alongside arrangements of Bach by Astor Piazzolla and music by Alberto Ginastera. --WFMT Radio, Lisa Flynn, April 27, 2014