Donizetti - String Quartets 15, 17 & 18
£9.45
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Label: Brilliant Classics
Cat No: 96921
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Chamber
Release Date: 28th April 2023
Contents
Works
String Quartet no.15 in F majorString Quartet no.17 in D major
String Quartet no.18 in E minor
Artists
Quartetto DelficoWorks
String Quartet no.15 in F majorString Quartet no.17 in D major
String Quartet no.18 in E minor
Artists
Quartetto DelficoAbout
The opening movement of no.15 in F major plays teasingly with the famous opening melody of Mozart’s Symphony no.40 (much as Shostakovich did in the finale of his Second Violin Concerto, a century and a half later), draining it of anxiety and infusing a bright-eyed joie de vivre instead. This sunny mood spills over into the lyrical Andante. Haydn would no doubt have smiled at Donizetti’s ingenuity in developing the material for the Minuet from little more than the open strings of the ensemble, and the finale’s introduction springs a surprise worthy of the older master of the string quartet, turning unexpectedly to the minor and then racing off with the visceral drama of an actfinale from one of his operatic tragedies.
Nos. 17 and 18 are both even more substantial and compelling works in their ways, composed in 1825 and 1836 respectively; the first movement of no.18 in E minor was later reused in the opening sinfonia of Linda de Chamounix in 1842. They continue to refine Donizetti’s Haydnesque inclination towards economy of means and singularity of gesture. The first movement of no.17 creates a terse drama from thematic questions and answers, and its ostensible D major key is continually belied by harmonic stress and strain.
Finally, in no.18, Donizetti fully embraces the potential for the quartet as a medium of musical tragedy as potent as any abandoned heroine. This is a half-hour piece as ambitious and surprising as any of the mature quartets by his great predecessors in the medium, notable not just for an extended slow movement but also the nervous energy of its minuet.
‘As nicely composed as these works are, it is the performance that really makes them come alive. The Quartetto Delfico is evenly matched in tone... The phrasing matches the music and the tempos are nicely lively… In short, this is an excellent disc.’ – Fanfare (Manfredini, 94786)
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