Quatuor Danel

There is nothing more dramatic than the ending of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. The famous scene inspired Beethoven to the intensely emotional 'Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato' in his opus 18 no. 1. It is difficult to think of a stronger debut by a quartet composer. Top violinist Louis Spohr commended the quartet as "the ideal model for the genre" - right up the street of our internationally renowned Danel Quartet. In recent years, this ensemble has made an enormous name for itself with its revelatory interpretation of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's string quartets. These can easily stand comparison with those of Shostakovich, Weinberg's great mentor and admirer, who in his later works was - it has to be said - quite free in his borrowings from Weinberg. Beethoven wrote his First String Quartet at the age of twenty-nine. Schubert was that age when he composed his Fifteenth and last. The work has the intensity and epic grandeur (not to mention length!) of a symphony. The well-known and haunting tremulandi that mark the work - ominous and light-footed by turns - demand the utmost from the quartet members as regards accurate ensemble playing.