The RIAS Amadeus Quartet Mozart Recordings Vol. III (Remastered) Amadeus Quartet

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): String Quartet No. 14 in G Major, K. 387:
• 1 I. Allegro vivace assai 05:53
• 2 II. Menuetto. Allegro 08:35
• 3 III. Andante cantabile 08:30
• 4 IV. Molto allegro 04:12
• String Quartet No. 15 in D Minor, K. 421:
• 5 I. Allegro moderato 05:53
• 6 II. Andante 05:18
• 7 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 03:39
• 8 IV. Allegro ma non troppo - più allegro 09:33
• String Quartet No. 16 E-Flat Major, K. 428:
• 9 I. Allegro non troppo 04:58
• 10 II. Andante con moto 06:50
• 11 III. Menuetto. Allegro 06:49
• 12 IV. Allegro vivace 05:23
• String Quartet No. 18 in A Major, K. 464:
• 13 I. Allegro 07:29
• 14 II. Menuetto 06:17
• 15 III. Andante 13:40
• 16 IV. Allegro non troppo 05:31
• String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465:
• 17 I. Adagio - Allegro 07:56
• 18 II. Andante cantabile 07:23
• 19 III. Menuetto. Allegro 04:53
• 20 IV. Allegro molto 05:34
• String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575:
• 21 I. Allegretto 05:06
• 22 II. Andante 03:49
• 23 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 05:20
• 24 IV. Allegretto 05:42
• String Quartet No. 22 in B-Flat Major, K. 589:
• 25 I. Allegro 04:34
• 26 II. Larghetto 06:00
• 27 III. Menuetto. Moderato 06:17
• 28 IV. Allegro assai 03:54
• String Quartet No. 23 in F Major, K. 590:
• 29 I. Allegro moderato 06:26
• 30 II. Andante 06:34
• 31 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 04:14
• 32 IV. Allegro 04:46
• Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581:
• 33 I. Allegro 06:14
• 34 II. Larghetto 06:19
• 35 III. Menuetto 06:53
• 36 IV. Allegretto con variazioni 09:22
• String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515:
• 37 I. Allegro 09:14
• 38 II. Menuetto. Allegretto 05:33
• 39 III. Andante 08:49
• 40 IV. (Allegro) 07:28
• String Quintet No. 4 in G Minor, K. 516:
• 41 I. Allegro 07:24
• 42 II. Menuetto. Allegretto 05:00
• 43 III. Adagio ma non troppo 08:09
• 44 IV. Adagio - Allegro 10:04
• String Quintet No. 5 in D Major, K. 593:
• 45 I. Larghetto - Allegro 07:37
• 46 II. Adagio 06:37
• 47 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 04:47
• 48 IV. Allegro 04:07
• String Quintet No. 6 in E-Flat Major, K. 614:
• 49 I. Allegro di molto 05:28
• 50 II. Andante 07:27
• 51 III. Menuetto. Allegretto 03:42
• 52 IV. Allegro 05:09
• Total Runtime 05:32:21

Info for The RIAS Amadeus Quartet Mozart Recordings Vol. III (Remastered)

The string quartets of its eponym Mozart were, from the very beginning, a matter of the heart for the Amadeus Quartet. The previously unreleased recordings presented here from the archives of Deutschlandradio were made during the quartet’s first decade. They show the ensemble at a very high technical and musical level even at that early stage of its career. This edition is complemented by the four great string quintets with Cecil Aronowitz and the clarinet quintet with Heinrich Geuser.

The third volume of radio recordings with the Amadeus Quartet is dedicated to works of its eponym. From the very beginning, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's string quartets were a matter of the heart for the Amadeus Quartet. During the ensemble's long career, which lasted for nearly forty years, the great majority of its concert programmes contained at least one work by Mozart. It is not widely known that the Amadeus Quartet made studio recordings for the Berlin broadcasting corporation RIAS every year for nearly two decades. These previously unreleased Mozart recordings from the archives of Deutschlandradio Kultur, the legal successor to RIAS, were made during the quartet's first ten years. They feature eight of the ten great string quartets written during Mozart's mature period and show the ensemble at a very high technical and musical level, even at that early stage of its career. The great attention to detail and highly controlled form, in combination with great expression, create the prerequisite for musical spontaneity. These recordings are also of particular interest as they document the Amadeus Quartet at different levels in its reading of Mozart. In the first studio recordings of 1950 and 1951 the ensemble's surprisingly unusual and experimental interpretational approach opened up hitherto unknown expressive possibilities.

This edition is complemented by recordings of Mozart's four great string quintets. The second viola part is played by the South-African-born Cecil Aronowitz. He was occasionally referred to as the fifth member of the Amadeus Quartet as he was nearly always engaged when a second viola was needed. Three of the four string quintets were recorded in the studio in one single recording session in 1953 - given the high musical quality of these tapes, this is proof of the extraordinary standard of the ensemble, able to lay down a recording more or less straight away. Another peak is the recording of Mozart's clarinet quintet with Heinrich Geuser, one of the leading clarinettists of his time.

[...] each movement in this set was recorded in one unedited take, but no concessions whatsoever need to be made. You get the best of both worlds: performances that are in every sense of the word 'live', but with nothing in the way of audience noises.… (The Srad)

Cecil Aronowitz, viola
Heinrich Geuser, clarinet
Amadeus Quartet

Digitally remastered

Amadeus Quartet
English string quartet (1948–87), one of the most durable and highly regarded quartets of Europe. The quartet was formed in 1947, the result of an internment-camp meeting during World War II between three young Austrian Jewish refugees—Peter Schidlof, the group’s violist; Norbert Brainin, a violinist; and Siegmund Nissel, also a violinist. They were released from the camp with help from Dame Myra Hess and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Schidlof, who had been a violinist, began to study the viola. With the introduction in 1946 of Martin Lovett, a British cellist, to the group, the Brainin Quartet was formed.

The group gave its first performance as the Amadeus Quartet in London on Jan. 10, 1948. Touring extensively, the Amadeus performed throughout Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan, and South America. Noted for its smooth, sophisticated style, its seamless ensemble playing, and its sensitive interpretation, the quartet made some 200 recordings, among them the complete quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and W.A. Mozart. Though they emphasized a standard Classical and Romantic repertory, they also performed works by such 20th-century composers as Bela Bartók and Benjamin Britten (who wrote his third quartet expressly for them). The group disbanded upon the death of Schidlof in 1987.

Booklet for The RIAS Amadeus Quartet Mozart Recordings Vol. III (Remastered)