Customer Reviews

Mozart: String Quartets K465 "Dissonance" & K499 "Hoffmeister"

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The Belcea Quartet was formed in 1994 in London by violinist Corina Belcea-Fisher and has been receiving positive critical attention in recent years through live performances and their EMI recordings. Curious about the buzz, I bought this CD as my first experience with the ensemble, mainly because it includes one of my favorite pieces, Mozart's great D-major quartet, k. 499, the "Hoffmeister."

I have been searching for the perfect interpretation of the "Hoffmeister" for a while now and I'm afraid that this disc doesn't put paid to the quest. The Belcea quartet plays with limited expressivity and dynamic range. Everything is a little off. My favorite "Hoffmeister" recording remains the Alban Berg Quartet worthy, but not really outstanding, effort. The Belcea does easily better the wooden recording by the Salomon Quartet, however.

But this disc is a winner, because the k. 465 C-major "Dissonant" quartet receives just a beautiful performance. I have several recordings of this work and the Belcea immediately became my favorite. While the Belcea qt seems to favor a more buttoned-down style of interpretation, based on this release, the players seem involved and genuinely excited - in a restrained Brit way -- to be playing the work. It has really nice flow, the intonation is almost perfect and the whole CD's sonics are very good. I'm looking forward to the next time I spin this disc.