Mendelssohn: The String Quintets Doric String Quartet & Timothy Ridout

• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847): String Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 18, MWV R 21:
• 1 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 18, MWV R 21: I. Allegro con moto 11:56
• 2 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 18, MWV R 21: II. Intermezzo 08:03
• 3 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 18, MWV R 21: III. Scherzo 04:18
• 4 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A Major, Op. 18, MWV R 21: IV. Allegro vivace 06:30
• String Quintet No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 87, MWV R 33:
• 5 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 87, MWV R 33: I. Allegro vivace 10:25
• 6 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 87, MWV R 33: II. Allegretto scherzando 04:35
• 7 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 87, MWV R 33: III. Adagio e lento 10:03
• 8 Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 87, MWV R 33: IV. Allegro molto vivace 05:41
• Total Runtime 01:01:31

Info for Mendelssohn: The String Quintets

The Doric String Quartet is firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics around the globe. Following their acclaimed recordings of Mendelssohn’s string quartets, here the quartet is joined by leading violist Timothy Ridout for an album of Mendelssohn’s two string quintets. These were written at the beginning and end of his short but remarkable compositional life. Mendelssohn composed No. 1 in 1826, shortly before the Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, when he was just seventeen. No. 2 was written in 1845, when he was thirty-six, a year before the première of Elijah and just two years before his death.

Doric String Quartet
Timothy Ridout, viola

The Doric String Quartet
has firmly established itself as the leading British string quartet of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics across the globe. Selected for representation by YCAT in 2006, the Quartet went on to win several prizes including 1st prize at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.

The Quartet performs in leading concert halls throughout Europe including Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and De Singel, Antwerp, and is a regular visitor to the Wigmore Hall. In 2010 the Quartet made its highly acclaimed American debut with recitals at the Frick Museum in New York and Library of Congress in Washington, and now returns for annual tours to North America. Alongside main season concerts the Quartet has a busy festival schedule and has performed at the Aldeburgh, Carinthischer Sommer, Delft, Edinbrugh, Grafenegg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Musica Viva Sydney, Risør, Schwetzinger and West Cork Festivals, collaborating with artists including Nicolas Altstaedt, Jonathan Biss, Ian Bostridge, Andreas Haefliger, Chen Halevi, Alina Ibragimova, Aleksandar Madžar, Alexander Melnikov, Daniel Müller-Schott, Mark Padmore, and Cédric Tiberghien.

Another recent highlight has seen the Quartet take on John Adams’ “Absolute Jest” for String Quartet and Orchestra. The Doric have now performed the piece with the Vienna Symphony at the Vienna Konzerthaus with John Adams conducting, with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw and with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Markus Stenz.

Highlights of the 2015/16 season include five performances at the Wigmore Hall, as well as return appearances at the Berlin Konzerthaus and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In April the Quartet returns to North America for its annual tour, this time including performances in Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Boston and Vancouver. European recital engagements include appearances in Aalborg, Aarhus, Clermont-Ferrand, den Bosch, Ferrara,,Haarlem and Perugia. They will also tour with Elisabeth Leonskaja, including performances at the Musikverein in Vienna and at Wigmore Hall. Festival engagements take the quartet to the Cheltenham, Poznan, Risør and Storioni Chamber Music Festivals, as well as appearances at the Oxford Lieder, Two Moors and North Norfolk Music Festivals.

In 2009 the Doric String Quartet’s first CD was released to critical acclaim on the Wigmore Live label and was chosen as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Since 2010 the Quartet has recorded exclusively for Chandos Records. The first CD, the complete Korngold String Quartets, was featured as one of the 2010 Critic’s Choice discs in Gramophone and was followed by a CD of the Walton String Quartets which was nominated for a 2011 Gramophone Award. The Quartet’s release of the Schumann String Quartets was named CD of the Month in both Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine and was shortlisted for a 2012 Gramophone Award. Their most recent releases of Haydn’s Op 20 Quartets and Quartets by Janáček and Martinů have both gathered enthusiastic reviews across the board, with the Haydn disc being named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone and shortlisted for a 2015 Gramophone Award.

Booklet for Mendelssohn: The String Quintets