Artist: Dante Quartet
Title: Smetana: String Quartets Nos. 1 "From My Life" & 2; Sibelius: Voces intimae
Year Of Release: 2013
Label: Hyperion
Genre: Classical
Quality: flac lossless (tracks) + Booklet
Total Time: 01:17:53
Total Size: 332 mb

Tracklist

01. Sibelius: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56 "Voces intimae": I. Andante – Allegro molto moderato
02. Sibelius: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56 "Voces intimae": II. Vivace
03. Sibelius: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56 "Voces intimae": III. Adagio di molto
04. Sibelius: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56 "Voces intimae": IV. Allegretto, ma pesante
05. Sibelius: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56 "Voces intimae": V. Allegro
06. Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, JB 1:105 "From My Life": I. Allegro vivo appassionato
07. Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, JB 1:105 "From My Life": II. Allegro moderato alla polka
08. Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, JB 1:105 "From My Life": III. Largo sostenuto
09. Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, JB 1:105 "From My Life": IV. Vivace
10. Smetana: String Quartet No. 2 in D Minor, JB 1:124: I. Allegro
11. Smetana: String Quartet No. 2 in D Minor, JB 1:124: II. Allegro moderato – Andante cantabile
12. Smetana: String Quartet No. 2 in D Minor, JB 1:124: III. Allegro non più moderato, ma agitato e con fuoco
13. Smetana: String Quartet No. 2 in D Minor, JB 1:124: IV. Finale. Presto

BBC Music Magazine award winners the Dante Quartet return for their third Hyperion recording with the string quartets of Smetana and Sibelius. This group, renowned for their inventive interpretations and sensitive articulation, capture perfectly the expressive intensity of these masterpieces.

Smetana’s Quartet No 1 in E minor is entitled ‘From my life’ and musically chronicles his youth, loves and vocation, culminating with the onset of his deafness. The turbulent second Quartet in D minor serves as a sequel to the first, continuing Smetana’s life story. The musical language is adventurous and unusual, speaking movingly of the composer’s loss of his hearing.

Interestingly, Smetana and Sibelius, both renowned for their skilful dealing with symphonic forces poignantly turned to the intimacy of the string quartet form at specific points of crisis in their lives. Voces intimae is an intense precursor to Sibelius’s tormented fourth Symphony, written at a time of profound depression.

These works give a unique insight into the private musical lives of their composers and are performed by the Dante Quartet with conviction and flawless technique.