Joseph Wölfl - The String Quartets - PRATUM INTEGRUM ORCHESTRA SOLOISTS - Caro Mitis CM 0032006 (2008) SACD rip via PS3 to iso (3.59GB) | 24bit/88.2kHz flac | Mch (2.83GB) (+6dB gain) | 2ch (1.19GB) DR15 (+6dB gain) | Classical Caro Mitis has a delightful habit of decorating the top-sides of their discs with beautiful slavic patterns, making them easily the most beautiful (looking) discs in the SACD realm. So it is no great surprise to find beautifully played, exquisitely recorded music on the other side of the disc. Great stuff top to bottom here. If you have any sympathy for the classical era & its music, I strongly recommend acquiring this disc (& other Caro Mitis offerings). In the spirit of fair-mindedness, I confess I am less impressed with their other Wölfl disc with symphonies; that might be due to my predilection towards chamber-scale music, but perhaps the quartets are simply better than the symphonies. Haydn did say ‘I paint my symphonies with a broad brush, & save the finer touches for the connoisseur of chamber works’. ~Beagle on SA-CD.net ------------------------------------------------------------------ AudAud review: Joseph Wölfl was born in 1773 in Salzburg & had lessons from Leopold Mozart & Michael Haydn & once had quite a reputation as a pianist & composer, taking part in competitions at the keyboard with Beethoven himself to much public acclaim. Beethoven appears to have been the superior player In 1790 he went to Vienna to visit Mozart who got him a position with Count Oginski in Warsaw where he remained for 5 years before returning to Vienna. He wrote operas, 1 of which, Der Höllenberg, was composed with Schikaneder, Mozart’s friend & librettist for The Magic Flute. Chamber & instrumental works were dedicated to Haydn, Mozart & Beethoven. In 1798 & newly-married he embarked on a huge & highly successful tour of Europe & ended up in Paris in 1801 acclaimed in 1 newspaper as “the most thrilling pianist in Europe”. In 1805 he left Paris suddenly, the excellent booklet essay making some guesses for the reasons for this, & eventually ended up in London, where his career continued but with less success. He died suddenly in 1812 having written a broad corpus of works, several operas & ballets, 3 symphonies, 7 piano concertos, & a good deal of chamber & instrumental music, including 18 string quartets. Much of the above was new to me, & it was interesting to listen to work by a composer with a wide reputation during his lifetime but who is hardly known now. Indeed, the quartets presented here are all world première recordings. They date from 1805, the year of Wölfl’s difficulties in Paris, & are each in 4 movements, quick movements beginning & end frame a slow 1 & a minuet. There are plenty of good ideas in the writing, imaginative canons, polyphony & unexpected key changes. Despite this, the sum total is somewhat lacking, leaving academically interesting but ultimately unsatisfying works, & regrettably I do not feel these were buried treasures. The 4 string players are usually to be found in the Pratum Intregum Orchestra – the “unmown meadow” of neglected Baroque & Classical works being the staple diet – & play with affection for these quartets. There is a certain amount of huffing & puffing audible from at least 1 of the players, & the predictable ballooning of some of the phrasing gives an unfortunate cumulative effect. Recording quality is excellent as is the norm for this label, the recording made by Polyhymnia sounding superb in all formats. The booklet has an excellent essay by Tatiana Sokorina & is beautifully presented. This release is well worth investigating by those interested in the byways of the classical era. ~Peter Joelson SA-CD.net Review by krisjan: This is my 1st experience with the Caro Mitis label & I must say that this is among the very best recordings of a string quartet that I've heard. Up to now, I've not purchased anything from the label because they seem to be focusing their repertoire on baroque & early classical period works which don't interest me all that much these days. Joseph Wolfl, on the other hand, was born 3 years after Beethoven so I was willing to hear what he had to say via the string quartet medium. As one might expect, the 3 quartets represented here fall somewhere between late Haydn & middle period LvB in style & substance. I found all 3 to be enjoyable, distinctive & yes, even somewhat inventive at times. The performances by this ad hoc quartet of members from the Pratum Integrum Orchestra are excellent. Wolfl composed 18 string quartets & I sincerely hope that these players will select 3 more of this quality & commit them to SACD. The recording itself is fantastic! The ensemble was recorded in a Russian TV & Radio studio by the Polyhymnia team (those's that do new recordings for PentaTone) & the end results are excellent. One of the things I like best about this recording (& which is lacking in so many string quartet recordings) is that fullness & bloom of the cello sound. The rest of the strings are handled with naturalness & the whole ensemble is given just enough ambience to create a judicious blend. Very, very impressive. Needless to say - highly recommended. Tracks: 01.String Quartet in C major, op.30 no.2 I. Allegro 06:46 02. II. Minuetto. Allegro 03:44 03. III. Adagio ma non troppo 04:47 04. IV. Finale. Allegro 06:27 05.String Quartet in D major, op.30 no.3 I. Allegro 07:28 06. II. Minuetto. Allegro 03:58 07. III. Andante un poco Allegretto 06:55 08. IV. Prestissimo 07:42 09.String Quartet in E-flat major, op.30 no.1 I. Allegro 07:16 10. II. Adagio 02:37 11. III. Minuetto. Allegro 03:03 12. IV. Finale. Allegretto 09:20 Time: 70:12 All tracks are world premiere recordings. Musicians: PRATUM INTEGRUM ORCHESTRA Dmitry Sinkovsky (1st violin) Anonym, Austria, early 19th century Sergei Filchenko (2nd violin) J. Stainer “In Abssam prope Oenipontum”, Austria, 1678 Sergei Tischenko (viola) T. Podgornyi, Moscow, Russia,1956 / after A. Stradivari, Italy, early 18th century Pavel Serbin (cello) J. Guanini, Viacenza, 1731 Recorded: 20-24.01.2008 5th Studio of The Russian Television & Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) Moscow, Russia. http://www.filefactory.com/folder/0773b6f2a2bdec27 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Checksum for iso: 393d4ebb85f55b5bd000cb11ee40a88d *Joseph Wolfl - String Quartets, Op.30.iso