Artemis Quartett

The Artemis Quartet is in a class of its own and could be called the Alban Berg Quartet of today. It has only just issued a new, highly acclaimed standard recording of the complete Beethoven quartets, yet the ensemble is already beginning on an ambitious Schubert box. It's no wonder, then, that the two composers are also featuring in deSingel's music programme. Here, in particular, we have Franz Schubert's Fifteenth String Quartet, his last work in the genre and one in which, once again, he pulls out all the stops, witness the symphonic scale and structure of the scoring. A similarly late work is Beethoven's 'Grosse Fuge', a monumental example of counterpoint with which the German master made more than sure of his place in musical history. Felix Mendelssohn's Third String Quartet is warm-blooded music that virtually bursts its classical bounds with its cheery energy.