Doric String Quartet, Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Vol. 1

Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Vol. 1 is released 10th November, pre-order now! 👉lnk.to/DSQID
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. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, the Quartet here embarks on a significant new recording project - the complete string quartets by Beethoven. This first volume combines works from Beethoven’s early, middle, and late period. The six quartets Op. 18 were the first he composed, in 1799 and 1800, encouraged by Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz, a significant patron of the arts. Once he had completed the set, Beethoven heavily revised the first three quartets, writing to a friend: ‘I have changed it considerably; for I have only now learned to write quartets correctly, as you will see when you receive them.’ Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky was the Russian ambassador to the Vieneese court, and the dedicatee of the three quartets Op. 59. The last of the middle-period quartets, Op. 95 (Serioso) was dedicated to Beethoven’s close friend and accomplished cellist Nikolaus Zmeskall and is regarded as showing a glimpse of what would come: Beethoven’s late quartets. Extremely complex and largely misunderstood by musicians and audiences in Beethoven's day, these quartets are now widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, and have inspired many later composers. Op. 127, featured in this volume, is the first of these monumental works.
Filmed by Alex James at Potton Hall, Suffolk.

[@BalbirSingh-gr2qk]

Exciting recording.

[@MrJdaniel1371]

I downloaded Beethoven set and really enjoyed your colorful, vibrant, imaginative playing throughout, which makes the Juilliard's 60s recordings sound grey by comparison, IMHO. That said, it is beyond frustrating that one of the most beautiful stretches in all of Beethoven -- the passage about 2/3's of the way though the Op 59 No. 1 slow mov't -- is a mere two or three energized atoms above inaudibility! And I listen in a dedicated, quiet sound room. Turn up the volume and forte sections are ear-splitting. No one was concerned about this during playback sessions? Same problem afflicted your Schubert SQ 15 in places. Otherwise, I look forward to the rest of the series.