Beethoven: Late Quartets / Quatour Mosaiques

QUATUOR MOSAÏQUES

This is the first recording of legendary Quatuor Mosaïques in several years. In celebration of their 30th anniversary, they have decided to record one of the monuments of chamber music: the last five quartets of Beethoven. The Quatuor Mosaiques is formed of the three Austrian violinists Erich Hobarth, Andrea Bischof and Anita Mitterer and the French cellist Christophe Coin. Thierty years ago, while the four artists were members of Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus Wien, where they first met, they had the idea of pooling their experience of playing period instruments while also perpetuating through a living link the great European tradition of the string quartet, as represented notably by the legendary Vegh Quartet, of which Erich Hobarth had been a member for three years. In their view, the ultimate aim of any performance is to reveal the inner spiritual richness of the music. “In a mosaic, each element is carefully conceived and at the same time, it is by observing it from the ideal distance that the eye can take in the entire image. The same is true in music: one must work on the details while perceiving the work as a whole.” (Christophe Coin)

Price: $33.98