Beethoven: String Quartets op. 18/3, 18/5 & 135 Hagen Quartett

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3:
• 1 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: I. Allegro 07:51
• 2 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: II. Andante con moto 07:37
• 3 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: III. Allegro 03:04
• 4 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3: IV: Presto 06:14
• String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5:
• 5 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: I. Allegro 07:11
• 6 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: II. Menuetto 04:43
• 7 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: III. Andante cantabile 10:02
• 8 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18 No. 5: IV. Allegro 06:36
• String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135:
• 9 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: I. Allegretto 07:30
• 10 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: II. Vivace 03:35
• 11 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: III. Assai lento, cantante e tranquillo 07:29
• 12 van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: IV. Der schwer gefasste Entschluss. Grave, ma non troppo tratto — Allegro 07:27
• Total Runtime 01:19:19

Info for Beethoven: String Quartets op. 18/3, 18/5 & 135

Following an extraordinary 30th anniversary season spent touring the complete Beethoven string quartets to musical centers around the world, including Tokyo, Paris, London, Vienna and Salzburg, the Hagen Quartet went directly from stage to studio to record three of their favorite Beethoven quartets. With the selection of op. 18/3, 18/5, and op. 135, the album ranges from the very first to the very last string quartet Beethoven wrote.

"The Hagen Quartet has always been radical. But what the four now get out of Beethoven is literally unheard of...brooding faltering, hunting restlessness, defiance and triumph, mood changes at every turn. It has been a long time since Beethoven has sounded so outrageously new - a capital achievement." (The Mirror, Johannes Saltzwedel)

"The Hagen Quartet ignites the music's punchlines with the ease of a world-class ensemble. The precision of the four string players is unsurpassed, as is their willingness to take risks. The Hagens have long since shed the traditional expectations of how a piece should sound. The only thing they care about is the spirit of the music...The Hagen Quartet explores the emotions behind the musical text and gives us a glimpse into the composer's soul, with all its chasms and conflicts. Only the greatest musicians come this close to the truth of art." (NDR Kultur, Marcus Stäbler)

Hagen Quartet

The Hagen Quartet
has been one of the world’s finest string quartets for many years and in 2021 celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Its most recent concert programmes have included Mozart’s ten great string quartets and Clarinet Quintet, the piano quintets of Shostakovich and Schumann, Schubert’s String Quintet and Jörg Widmann’s Clarinet Quintet. The Hagen Quartet’s concert series with guest artists at the Vienna Konzerthaus focussed particularly on Mozart’s quartets and quintets. The ensemble has toured to (among others) London, Brussels, Munich, Berlin, to the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, to Amsterdam, Wrocław, Barcelona, Madrid and Turin, to the Schubertiades in Hohenems and Schwarzenberg where they performed two concert programmes, to the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, to the Salzburg Festival and to the Lucerne Festival, as well as to the USA and Japan.

The Hagen Quartet’s spectacular career began in 1981 in Salzburg. In its early years the Quartet had great success in competitions, and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Its decades-long collaboration with this label has resulted in numerous recordings, through which the ensemble has developed a vast repertoire and a unique profile.

Since 2011 the Hagen Quartet has worked with the record label myrios classics: its recordings of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet with Jörg Widmann and Mozart’s string quartets received international acclaim from critics, and won prizes including the ECHO Klassik and the Diapason d’Or. In 2019 a recording of Brahms’s Third String Quartet and Piano Quintet with Kirill Gerstein followed.

The Hagen Quartet has been an honorary member of the Vienna Konzerthaus since 2012 and in 2019 won the Concertgebouw Prize for its charismatic artistic contribution to the organization over many years. The Quartet’s attractive and intelligently devised concert programmes cover repertoire from early epochs to Haydn to Kurtág, exploring the entire history of the string quartet. The Hagen Quartet has maintained and intensified its contacts with contemporary composers, both through performing existing repertoire and by giving premieres of new works. Working with artistic personalities such as György Kurtág and the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt has been as important to the Quartet as their joint appearances with fellow performers including Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, the late Heinrich Schiff, Jörg Widmann, Kirill Gerstein, Sol Gabetta, Gautier Capuçon and Igor Levit.

For many young string quartets, the Hagen Quartet is an important role model in terms of sound quality, stylistic diversity, ensemble playing and serious analysis of works and composers in their genre. As teachers and mentors at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, and in international masterclasses, the Quartet’s members take pride in passing on their vast experience to their younger colleagues.

The Hagen Quartet’s members perform on early Italian master instruments.

This album contains no booklet.