Spohr: String Quartets (Complete), Vol. 13 [Enhanced]

Spohr (Artist, Composer), Moscow Philharmonic Concertino String Quartet (Artist), -- (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: --
• Composer: Spohr
• Audio CD (March 31, 2009)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Marco Polo
• ASIN: B001QUL6YW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,193 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant, Tuneful, Well-Crafted Quartets, April 1, 2009

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spohr: String Quartets (Complete), Vol. 13 (Audio CD)

Louis Spohr (1784-1859) is often dismissed these days, possibly because his music is so well-crafted that it sounds simpler than it is. And of course he's pooh-poohed because he's not Beethoven. But who is? Among other things this musical jack-of-all-trades was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, teacher and composer. And he's also remembered for inventing the violin chin rest and popularizing the use of the baton when conducting. Oh, and he also was the first to use letters in scores, saving rehearsal time when a conductor could simply say 'Let's begin again five measures after Letter D.'

He wrote 36 string quartets and this release is the 13th in Marco Polo's complete traversal of the lot. Here we get two genial, tuneful, beautifully constructed quartets that, while they are probably not masterpieces, are entirely enjoyable. Spohr was a remarkable tunesmith, having the knack of constructing melodies that stick in the aural memory. He was able to manage long forms with skill and both these quartets are examples of that. There is a less than remarkable fugue in the F Minor Quartet but other than that I find no real weaknesses herein. I enjoyed this release much I like did the earlier issues.

The Moscow Philharmonic Concertino String Quartet (unwieldy name, that!) previously recorded Volumes 10 & 11 in the Marco Polo Spohr quartet series. Spohr: String Quartets, Vol. 10, Louis Spohr: String Quartets (Complete), Vol. 11 They specialize in playing rarities of the quartet literature. The quartet's members are Jaroslav Krasnikov and Sofia Krasnikova, violins, Olga Zhmaeva, viola and Victor Kozodov, cello.

Scott Morrison