Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 18 Nos. 4-6 (2022)

The Chiaroscuro Quartet has embarked on a chronological, single-album cycle of Beethoven's quartets, and the group returns here with the second volume, offering the fourth, fifth, and sixth quartets from the composer's Op. 18 set of six. The group uses gut strings and early instruments (second violinist Pablo Hernán Benedí plays a 1570 Amati instrument) that impart a physicality fitting the quartet's expressive aims. The word "chiaroscuro" befits this quartet, which, even in Haydn quartets, offers high-contrast performances ... Read More

The Chiaroscuro Quartet has embarked on a chronological, single-album cycle of Beethoven's quartets, and the group returns here with the second volume, offering the fourth, fifth, and sixth quartets from the composer's Op. 18 set of six. The group uses gut strings and early instruments (second violinist Pablo Hernán Benedí plays a 1570 Amati instrument) that impart a physicality fitting the quartet's expressive aims. The word "chiaroscuro" befits this quartet, which, even in Haydn quartets, offers high-contrast performances. The players don't ladle on the storm and stress, however, not even in the sole minor-key quartet of the group, the String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4, and the group's performances are lively. The Chiaroscuro leans toward the Beethovenian qualities in these works rather than emphasizing the Haydn and Mozart models. Consider a few movements of the String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18, No. 5, as Mozartian as Beethoven ever got. But there, the Chiaroscuro applies rapid... Read Less