Utwory na płycie:

• String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor - I. Agitatissimo
• String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor - II. Adagio, ma non troppo
• String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor - III. Presto
• String Quartet No. 7 in F Minor - IV. Marcia lugubre
• String Quartet No. 5 in F Major - I. Moderato assai – Presto
• String Quartet No. 5 in F Major - II. Adagio
• String Quartet No. 5 in F Major - III. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo
• String Quartet No. 5 in F Major - IV. Finale. Allegro vivace
• String Quartet No. 4 - Allegro –
• String Quartet No. 4 - Allegro
• String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108 - I. Allegretto
• String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108 - II. Lento
• String Quartet No. 7 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 108 - III. Allegro
• String Quartet in F Major - I. Allegro moderato
• String Quartet in F Major - II. Assez vif. Très rythmé
• String Quartet in F Major - III. Très lent
• String Quartet in F Major - IV. Vif et agité
• String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 - I. Allegro ma non troppo
• String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 - II. Andante sostenuto
• String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 - III. Menuetto. Allegro
• String Quartet No. 8 in B-Flat Major, Op. 168 - IV. Presto
• String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2 - I. Allegro vivace
• String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2 - II. Andante, quasi Variazioni
• String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2 - III. Scherzo. Presto – Trio. L'istesso tempo – Coda
• String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41/2 - IV. Allegro molto vivace
• String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 - I. Allegro moderato
• String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 - II. Adagio
• String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 - III. Menuetto. Presto
• String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77/1 - IV. Finale. Presto
• String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3 - I. Andante espressivo – Allegro molto moderato
• String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3 - II. Assai agitato
• String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3 - III. Adagio molto
• String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41/3 - IV. Finale. Allegro molto vivace

CD 1:
Gaetano Donizetti:
String Quartet No. 7 in F minor

Luigi Cherubini:
String Quartet No. 5 in F major

Gian Francesco Malipiero:
String Quartet No. 4

CD 2:
Dmitri Shostakovich:
String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108

Maurice Ravel:
String Quartet in F major

Franz Schubert:
String Quartet No. 8 in B-flat major, Op. 168 (D. 112)

CD 3:
Robert Schumann:
String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 41/2

Joseph Haydn:
String Quartet in G major, Op. 77/1 (Hob. III:
81)

Robert Schumann:
String Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 41/3

The Quartetto Italiano, pioneer of Italian chamber music culture, was one of the leading string quartets of the 20th century. The complete RIAS radio productions, released here for the first time, testify to the ensemble’s exceptional stature, the remarkable homogeneity of its quartet sound, and the enormous breadth of its repertoire.

The ensemble’s confidently-chosen name made it clear from the outset that the Quartetto Italiano saw itself not simply as an Italian string quartet among many, but as the authoritative one. The ensemble was soon recognized as a pioneer of Italian chamber music culture following the Second World War. Through their tireless obsession with detail, in-depth exploration of the works’ musical expression, and the remarkable homogeneity of their quartet sound, the Quartetto Italiano conquered a firm place in the top league of leading string quartets over the first two decades of their career.

The first release of the complete productions realized by the Quartetto Italiano for Berlin’s RIAS between 1951 and 1963 highlights two aspects that the musicians would increasingly neglect in their later recordings: firstly, the focus on the music of their fellow countrymen, represented here in rarely-heard works by Gaetano Donizetti, Luigi Cherubini, and Gian Francesco Malipiero; and secondly, the enormous breadth of their repertoire, which ranged from Joseph Haydn, the father of the classical string quartet, to Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh String Quartet (brand new at the time of the recording). Three works on this release (Cherubini, Donizetti, and Shostakovich) can be heard performed by the Quartetto Italiano for the first time on CD.

---

Recordings: October 18, 1959, RIAS Funkhaus, Berlin – Studio 7 (CD 1); October 13, 1958, October 13, 1963, Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz (CD 1); October 13, 1963, February 25, 1951, Siemensvilla, Berlin-Lankwitz (CD 2).