Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 1: Late String Quartets Calidore Quartet

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127:
• 1 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: I. Maestoso 07:06
• 2 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: Ii Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile 15:22
• 3 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: Iii. Scherzando vivace 08:02
• 4 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127: Iv. Finale. Allegro 07:10
• String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131:
• 5 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131: I. Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo 06:48
• 6 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131: Ii. Allegro molto vivace 02:54
• 7 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131: Iii. Allegro moderato 00:43
• 8 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131: Iv. Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile 13:26
• 9 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131: V. Presto 05:01
• 10 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131: Vi. Adagio quasi un poco andante 01:59
• 11 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131: Vii. Allegro 06:38
• String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130:
• 12 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130: I. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro 13:39
• 13 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130: Ii. Presto 01:59
• 14 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130: Iii. Andante con moto ma non troppo. Poco scherzando 06:55
• 15 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130: Iv. Alla danza tedesca (Allegro assai) 03:24
• 16 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130: V. Cavatina (Adagio molto espressivo) 07:00
• Grosse Fuge in B-Flat Major, Op. 133:
• 17 Beethoven: Grosse Fuge in B-Flat Major, Op. 133 15:32
• String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130:
• 18 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat major, Op. 130: Vi. Finale. Allegro 10:13
• String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132:
• 19 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132: I. Assai sostenuto - Allegro 09:57
• 20 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132: Ii. Allegro ma non tanto 09:01
• 21 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132: Iii. Molto adagio 17:32
• 22 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132: Iv. Alla marcia, assai vivace 02:17
• 23 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132: V. Allegro appassionato 06:41
• String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135:
• 24 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: I. Allegretto 06:38
• 25 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: Ii. Vivace 03:15
• 26 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: Iii. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo 07:48
• 27 Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: Iv. Grave ma non troppo tratto - Allegro 06:43
• Total Runtime 03:23:43

Info for Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 1: Late String Quartets

BEETHOVEN: The Late Quartets ist das dritte Album des Calidore String Quartet und nach den hochgelobten Alben BABEL (2020) und Resilience (2018) das bisher ehrgeizigste Projekt des Labels. Das Drei-Alben-Set ist der erste Teil des vollständigen Beethoven-Zyklus des Calidore, der in den nächsten drei Jahren auf Signum veröffentlicht wird. Vor zwölf Jahren gründeten die Freunde Jeffrey Myers (Violine), Ryan Meehan (Violine), Jeremy Berry (Viola) und Estelle Choi (Cello) das Calidore String Quartet, als sie noch an der Colburn School in Los Angeles studierten. "Den Beethoven-Zyklus aufzuführen ist das musikalische Äquivalent zur Besteigung des Mount Everest", sagt der Geiger Ryan Meehan. "Es sind zermürbende neun Stunden Musik, die einige der technisch kompliziertesten und emotional anspruchsvollsten Werke enthalten, die je erdacht wurden, und denen wir seit der Gründung des Quartetts einen Großteil unserer Studien und Auftritte gewidmet haben.

Das Calidore String Quartet hat sich immer wieder zu Beethovens Musik hingezogen gefühlt, weil seine humanistische Perspektive von bleibender Bedeutung ist. Meehan sagt: "Er war ein Künstler, der nicht für einen bestimmten Teil der Gesellschaft komponierte, sondern uns durch unsere grundlegenden Elemente vereinen wollte. Seine sechzehn Streichquartette weben einen Klangteppich menschlicher Emotionen: von Verletzlichkeit und Hoffnung wie im 'Heiliger Dankgesang' von op. 132 bis hin zu Schrecken und Wut, die sich in Freude auflösen wie in op. 135, "Der schwer gefasste Entschluss". Unsere öffentlichen Aufführungen bestätigten uns, dass Beethovens Quartette an die emotionalen Erfahrungen appellieren, die wir als Menschen gemeinsam haben und die weitaus substanzieller sind als das, was uns vielleicht trennt. Diese großartigen Werke sind auch das Ergebnis von Beethovens Ringen um die Bewältigung der Herausforderungen seines eigenen Lebens".

"Diese Aufnahme ist eine Momentaufnahme unserer zwölfjährigen Arbeit, unseres Wachstums, unseres Zuhörens und unserer Zusammenarbeit. Obwohl diese Musik in einer Sprache spricht, die Hunderte von Jahren alt ist, bleibt ihre Botschaft für die Zuhörer von heute und für die kommenden Generationen unmittelbar, relevant und tröstlich, auch und gerade in den schwierigsten Zeiten."

In der Saison 2022-23 wird das Calidore String Quartet Beethoven-Quartette in ganz Nordamerika und auf der ganzen Welt aufführen, mit Engagements in Vancouver, Costa Mesa und Dänemark sowie in der Wigmore Hall, dem Concertgebouw und dem Kennedy Center. In diesem Sommer präsentiert das Ensemble den gesamten Beethoven-Quartett-Zyklus bei Music@Menlo. Weitere vollständige Aufführungen in den Jahren 2023-24 werden noch in diesem Jahr bekannt gegeben.

Calidore Streichquartett

Calidore Quartet
Performances of the Calidore String Quartet are renowned for their “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” (New York Times). Their unique “balance of intellect and expression” (Los Angeles Times) is complemented by the feeling that “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one” (Washington Post). After over a decade of performances and residencies in the world’s most esteemed venues and festivals, the release of numerous critically acclaimed recordings and lauded with significant awards, the Calidore String Quartet is recognized as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of a vast repertory; from the cycles of quartets by Beethoven and Mendelssohn to works of celebrated contemporary voices like Grygory Kurtag, Jörg Widmann and Caroline Shaw.

In their most ambitious recording project to date, the Calidore are amidst recording the complete cycle of Beethoven’s String Quartets for Signum Records. The recording will involve multiple releases beginning in March 2023. The 22-23 season includes debuts in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Prague, Madrid, Vancouver and Key West. Their concert activities also see returns to Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Copenhagen, Florence, Montreal, St. Paul, Houston and Los Angeles. In September 2022, the Calidore performs at Carnegie Hall with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, in a memorial concert honoring the late composer Andre Previn. They also enjoy collaborations this season with the Emerson Quartet, clarinetist Anthony McGill, bassist Xavier Foley, violist Matthew Lipman, harpist Bridget Kibbey and pianists Ivo Kahanek and Sophiko Simisive.

Recipient of a 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, the Calidore String Quartet first made international headlines as winner of the $100,000 Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition. The quartet was the first and only North American ensemble to win the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, and is currently in residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Highlights of recent seasons have included performances in major venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, Konzerthaus Berlin, Brussels’s BOZAR, Cologne Philharmonie, Seoul’s Kumho Art Hall, and at significant festivals including the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Music@Menlo, Rheingau, East Neuk, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The Calidore has given world premieres of works by Caroline Shaw, Hannah Lash and Mark-Anthony Turnage among others. Its collaborations with esteemed artists and ensembles include Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Marc-André Hamelin, Joshua Bell, David Shifrin, Inon Barnatan, Lawrence Power, Sharon Isbin, David Finckel and Wu Han. The Calidore has collaborated and studied closely with the Emerson Quartet and Quatuor Ébène, and has also studied with Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, Günter Pichler, Guillaume Sutre, Paul Coletti, and Ronald Leonard.

As a passionate supporter of music education, the Calidore String Quartet is committed to mentoring and educating young musicians, students, and audiences. In 2021 the Calidore joined the faculty of the University of Delaware School of Music and serve as directors of the newly established Graduate String Quartet Residency. Formerly, they served as artist-in-residence at the University of Toronto, University of Michigan and Stony Brook University.

The Calidore String Quartet was founded at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in 2010. Within two years, the quartet won grand prizes in virtually all the major US chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs competitions, and it captured top prizes at the 2012 ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the International Chamber Music Competition Hamburg. An amalgamation of “California” and “doré” (French for “golden”), the ensemble’s name represents its reverence for the diversity of culture and the strong support it received from its original home: Los Angeles, California, the “golden state.”

Booklet for Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 1: Late String Quartets