Beethoven: String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 / Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 10 in A-Flat Major, Op. 118

Featuring

Johanna Staemmler
Martin Funda
Teresa Schwamm
Peter-Philipp Staemmler
Armida Quartett
Ludwig van Beethoven

Dmitri Shostakovich

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Performer Biography

The Armida Quartet, founded in 2006, is named after an opera by Haydn, who is known as the 'father of the string quartet'.

Composition History

Shostakovich composed his 10th String Quartet (Opus 118) in a relaxed atmosphere over just eleven days in 1964, during a stay at a composers' retreat in Dilijan, Armenia.

Interpretation

The Armida Quartet, influenced by early music specialist Reinhard Goebel, focuses on the bow (right hand) for articulation and words, while the left hand provides brilliance and beauty.

Critical Reception

When Beethoven's Opus 59 quartets first circulated in 1806, contemporaries were irritated, with the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung remarking they were 'not easily comprehended'.

Performer Biography

The Armida Quartet achieved spectacular success at the ARD International Competition in 2012, winning first prize, the audience prize, and six other special awards.

Composition History

Beethoven's Opus 59 string quartets, known as the 'Rasumovsky Quartets', were commissioned by Count Andrey Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador in Vienna and an agile violinist.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Beethoven reportedly told violinist Felix Radicati, who found his Opus 59 quartets not to his liking, that 'they are not for you, but for a later age'.