Spohr: String Quartets Vol. 5

Spohr: String Quartets Vol. 2

Mozart: Violin Sonatas, Vol. 2

BEETHOVEN: Overtures, Vol. 2

Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 20 and 30-32

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7

SOLER, A.: Sonatas for Harpsichord, Vol. 2

Beethoven: Bagatelles and Dances, Vol. 2

Beethoven: Bagatelles and Dances, Vol. 1

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Includes song(s) without words by Felix Mendelssohn. Soloists: Leo Eide, Håkan Sund.

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REVIEWS:
Fanfare (1-2/00, pp.232-233) - "...The Third Quartet has an unusually bouncy opening movement for a minor-key work, and the playing here is a beath of fresh air....As a Cherubini enthusiast, I welcome the David Quartet recordings wholeheartedly..."

"Soler's distinctive personality is stamped all over [these quintets]. Schrader has recorded two volumes of [Soler's] sonatas for Cedille Records, and he brings the same digital skill and musical discrimination to these quintets. He leads a quartet that uses mid--to late--eighteenth century original instruments, in performances that are lively, tasteful, and finely balanced. The ensemble is ideally recorded." (Fanfare)

"The pleasures of discovering this unfamiliar music are greatly enhanced by the performances." (Chicago Tribune)

Captivating and quirky, the quintets for keyboard and strings of Spanish composer Padre Antonio Soler were rare, even in the heyday of LP recordings. Now they are available for the first time on compact disc.

SOLER: Keyboard Sonatas / Fandango, Vol. 1

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Writing in the booklet for this release, Hidemi Suzuki wonders why it is that cellists who bemoan their lack of concerto repertory continue to neglect C. P. E. Bach's three essays in the genre. One can only agree with him that it is indeed a mystery, for these are excellent pieces, full of infectious nervous energy in their outer movements and tender lyricism in central ones (heaven knows, there are nineteenth-century concertos for all sorts of instruments which we are condemned to hear over and over again that are not half as good as these). The Bach concertos are not unknown to the recording catalogues, however, not least because they also exist in alternative versions which the composer made for flute and harpsichord respectively. 'Modern' cellists who have been tempted to try some out include Rostropovich (H436) and Tortelier (1-1439), and there are currently discs of all three available from Timothy Hugh and Miklos Perenyi. As yet, though, the only baroque player to have attempted them has been, predictably enough, Anner Bylsma.

It is not known in what order the three instrumentations of these concertos originally came, but as Suzuki points out there are times when the low-lying cello has difficulty making itself heard properly against the orchestra, having said which, he proceeds to make light of the matter in performances whose agility, lightness and textural clarity make those of Bylsma and the larger-sounding OAE sound heavy-handed by comparison. But while Suzuki - thanks to a generally thinner sound - is the more successful in the way he transmits the surface excitement and energy of the quick movements, he cannot match Bylsma's vocal inspiration in the eloquent, sometimes brooding empfindsamkeit poetry of the slow movement — in such music, the Dutchman is always worth listening to. Suzuki's, nevertheless, are refreshing and enlivening performances of attractive and substantial music which I have already found myself replaying with pleasure. If you are a cellist, you should buy it straightaway to find out what you have been missing!

-- Gramophone [2/1998]

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Luigi Cherubini was the Napoleon of the music world. Like the "little corporal" (who was, by the way, a great admirer), he was a Frenchified Italian who for years reigned at the helm of the Paris Conservatoire, the most prestigious institution of its kind in Europe, just as Napoleon dominated France. Unlike his less fortunate compatriot, however, Cherubini survived the restoration of the monarchy, living out his 82 years in honor and comfort, becoming one of the first composers to actually write his own Requiem Mass (in our own century, Frank Martin was another). As a composer, his reputation is kept alive solely by the opera Medea, one of Maria Callas' major vehicles, and in the instrumental realm, by his six late string quartets. Fastidiously crafted and supremely musical, these quartets recall Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart in their superior thematic workmanship and classical sense of balance. They've ranked among the best-kept secrets of quartet lovers for years, and only the comparative dearth of recordings has kept them from a wider public. The complete set appeared on Deutsche Grammophon for about 15 minutes several years ago--if you blinked you probably missed it--so kudos to BIS for not only undertaking this worthy project, but also for the determination to keep it in print! The Quartetto David sounds like the best group to come out of Italy since the old Quartetto Italiano, and they do the music proud, playing with sensitivity, taste, and a real singing tone. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Mozart, W.A.: Serenade No. 9, "Posthorn" / Symphony No. 32