The first violinist of the Quartetto di Venezia, Andrea Vio, plays a 1651 Nicola Amati 'Scourdille' violin, which belongs to the Pro Canale-Onlus Foundation of Milan.
Composer Biography
Beethoven's String Quintet Op. 104 is an arrangement of his Piano Trio Op. 1 No. 3, written over twenty years earlier, during which his style had drastically changed from an emerging composer to Vienna's dominant musical figure.
Composition History
Only one of Beethoven's three String Quintets, Op. 29, was originally conceived for a string quintet; the other two are arrangements of earlier works.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven's String Quintet Op. 29 is unique in his chamber music for its dense sound texture, often achieved through the use of double stops and doubling of parts.
Performer Biography
Danilo Rossi, the violist on this recording, was chosen by Riccardo Muti at age twenty to be the first viola soloist of the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, becoming the youngest in the prestigious Milanese theatre's history.
Recording & Production
This double CD aims to fill a long-standing gap in discography, as a complete recording of Beethoven's String Quintets was unavailable even in 1999.
Historical Context
String quintets, even masterpieces by composers like Mozart, Boccherini, Schubert, and Brahms, are rarely performed in concerts due to the difficulty of integrating a fifth instrument.
