The Arcadia Quartet’s acclaimed survey of Weinberg’s String Quartets continues with this fourth volume containing Quartets Nos 6, 13, and 15. Quartet No. 6 was composed in 1946 in Bïkovo, a town some twenty miles from the south-eastern perimeter of Moscow. Weinberg dedicated it to his friend Georgiy Sviridov, whom he had met in Shostakovich’s circle. The Quartet is a summit of his early achievements, and its musical language is strikingly advanced in relation to traditional Soviet works in the genre. It was banned by the authorities, and as a result, Weinberg wrote no more quartets until after the death of his mentor Shostakovich, in 1975. String Quartet No. 13 was composed in 1977 and dedicated to the Borodin Quartet. Like Shostakovich’s Thirteenth Quartet, written seven years earlier, it comprises a single movement lasting some fourteen or fifteen minutes, making it the shortest of all Weinberg’s quartets. String Quartet No. 15, from 1979, is in many respects the most radically conceived of all Weinberg’s quartets – certainly its nine-movement design suggests so. In expressive terms, too, it is one of the most elusive. The movements carry no titles or expressive directions, and, as in the case of his previous two quartets, Weinberg confines himself to metronome indications, avoiding all specification of character.
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Reviews
“… The Arcadia Quartet’s intent is to promote a body of work which has long remained overlooked, and with outstanding performances like these one has to believe that Weinberg’s 17 string quartets can justifiably stand alongside those of his friend Shostakovich.”
David Olds – thewholenote.com – 6 October 2024
“What a ride! … The Sixth is a 35-minute rollercoaster, played with attack and aplomb by the quartet.” *****
Michael Beek – BBC Music magazine (Brief Notes section) – November 2024
“…Their [Arcadia Quartet] integrity appears in every note, and their love and reverence for the music is clear in these stand-out performances.”
Steve Arloff – Musicwebinternational.com – 22 August 2024
“The Arcadia Quartet has done it again. In the fourth volume of their Weinberg quartets, they have assembled a programme that does justice to this often-overlooked composer…”
Andrew Palmer – Yorkshire Times.co.uk – 27 July 2024
Editor’s Choice – Chamber Section
“… The Arcadia go a long way to conveying the essence of what could seem oblique or even intractable, enhanced with sound of demonstrable realism … Two-thirds of the way through, this has emerged as a formidable cycle.”
Richard Whitehouse – Gramophone magazine – August 2024
“…Whatever the music’s texture and temperature, the Arcadia group, formed in Romania in 2006, plunge in without fear, doubly armed with their sturdy technique and total commitment to Weinberg’s cause…” ****
Geoff Brown – The Times – 16 July 2024
“… In this fourth volume the Arcadia Quartet triumphantly demonstrates how at home it is in Weinberg’s world, in readings that balance precision and heart.”
Joanne Talbot – The Strad – August 2024
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