BRITTEN, B.

Het in 1979 opgerichte Endellion String Quartet behoort tot de beste Britse strijkkwartetten en heeft een omvangrijke discografie. In het jaar waar de honderdste geboortedag van Benjamin Britten herdacht wordt, komt het kwartet met een boeiende opname van diens drie strijkkwartetten, aangevuld met de drie divertimenti die Britten in 1936 schreef, maar die pas na zijn dood werden gepubliceerd. Het tweede kwartet wordt opvallend snel en energiek gespeeld, maar het indrukwekkendst is het derde kwartet uit 1973 met verwijzingen naar zijn laatste grote opera, Death In Venice.


Britten: String Quartets & 3 Divertimenti

String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 25
String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94
Three Divertimenti
The Endellion String Quartet

While its thirtieth season was marked by the release of a boxed set of the complete Beethoven string quartets on Warner Classics, The Endellion String Quartet will enter its thirty-fifth year in the 2013-2014 season with the release of this new recording of the three string quartets by Benjamin Britten plus his 3 Divertimenti for String Quartet.

Benjamin Britten, born 22 November 1913, and being celebrated throughout 2013, was the most prolific and celebrated English composer of the mid-20th century. He was an outstanding pianist and conductor and performed with many of the most famous Classical musicians of the time, including cellist Mstislav Rostropovich who would only perform the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata with Britten at the piano. Britten shot to international fame with his operas which are considered the finest English operas since those of Henry Purcell in the 17th century and he also composed three string quartets which have been a speciality of the Endellion String Quartet for nearly thirty years. The recordings on these two CDs were made in July this year at the Wyastone Concert Hall near Monmouth in South Wales.