Recordings
AUDITE 97.710 | 2021
New:
Debussy & Rivier string quartets
Claude Debussy, string quartet in G minor
Jean Rivier (1896-1987), string quartets No. 1 & 2
The second part of the Mandelring Quartett’s recording project dedicated to French repertoire juxtaposes the “classic” Debussy with an almost forgotten composer of the following generation: Jean Rivier. His two string quartets, the first of which is recorded here for the first time, are a discovery: masterfully composed, passionate and extraordinarily varied.
AUDITE 97.709 | 2021
Ravel & La Tombelle string quartets
Maurice Ravel, string quartet in F major
Fernand de La Tombelle (1854-1928), string quartet in E major op. 36 (1897)
The Mandelring Quartett’s new, two-part recording project is dedicated to French repertoire. Part 1 presents Maurice Ravel’s string quartet, a stroke of genius by its 27-year-old composer marking a new chapter in French chamber music, as well as Fernand de La Tombelle’s almost contemporaneous refined and colourful Op. 36 quartet – a real discovery!
AUDITE 92.786 CD | 2020
Pennies from Heaven
Encores – Bis – Zugaben
Fritz Kreisler, Miniature Viennese March
W.A.Mozart, Quartet KV 156, Presto
Arthur Johnston, Pennies from Heaven
Antonín Dvorák, Waltz op. 54 Nr. 1
Mariano Mores, Cafetín de Buenos Aires, Tango
Felicien David, Quartet in A major, Allegretto
W. A. Mozart, Quartet KV 80, 1st movement
Alexander Borodin, Quartet Nr. 2, Scherzo. Allegro
Enrique Francini, La vi llegar, Tango
Peter I. Tschaikowsky, Quartet Nr. 1, Andante cantabile
Leroy Anderson, The syncopated clock
Dmitri Shostakovich, Allegretto
Antonín Dvorák, Quartet op. 96 „American“, Lento
Stevie Wonder, Sir Duke
Joseph Haydn, Quartet op. 33/3, Finale: Rondo. Presto
Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga, Quartet Nr. 1, Menuetto
Hector Varela, „El 58“, Tango
Handy, W.C., St. Louis Blues
Favourites from the Mandelring Quartet’s inexhaustible repertoire: Mozart’s very first string quartet meets classics of Tango Argentino; Haydn’s radiant “Bird” string quartet appears alongside Stevie Wonder’s top hit Sir Duke, Tchaikovsky’s Andante cantabile and the famous St. Louis Blues. This iridescent kaleidoscope presents the Mandelring Quartet at their most personal.
AUDITE 92.715 SACD | 2017
Johannes Brahms, The String Sextets
String Sextet in B flat major op. 18
String Sextet in G major op. 36
“These six string virtuosi, playing together as an organic whole, zestful and outstandingly vivid, enable even the smallest nuances of this complex and intricate music to blossom. Verdict: definitely worth listening to.”
BR Klassik (Bavarian Radio’s classical music station)
AUDITE 92.724 SACD | 2016
Johannes Brahms, The String Quintets
String Quintet in F major op. 88
String Quintet in G major op. 111
“ The Mandelring Quartet, with viola player Roland Glassl, is a true team of equals. Its luscious, even sound is perfect for Brahms’s rich quintets and shown to great advantage in this impeccably crisp recording.“
(BBC Music Magazine)
AUDITE 92.659 SACD | 2014
Chamber Music for Strings Vol. 4
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
String Quintet in A major op. 18
String Quintet in B flat major op. 87
4 pieces for string quartet op. 81
– Capriccio
– Fuge
“ … with the kind of conviction that makes it difficult to turn off this disc without listening from beginning to end.“
(Gramophone)
AUDITE 92.658 SACD | 2013
Chamber Music for Strings Vol. 3
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
String Quartet op. 44 No. 3
4 pieces for string quartet op. 81
Octet op. 20
In Volume 3 of its complete recording of Felix Mendelssohn’s Chamber Music for Strings, the Mandelring Quartett once again covers the youthful genius as well as the maturity of the composer, whose early death prevented a musical renewal. Alongside the final piece of the mature Quartet cycle Op. 44 and two posthumously published movements written in 1847, the year of his death, the Mandelring Quartett – sonorously reinforced by the Quartetto di Cremona – presents the Octet, Op. 20: one of the most exhilarating youthful works in musical history.
(Audite)
AUDITE 92.657 SACD | 2012
Chamber Music for Strings Vol. 2
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
String Quartet op. 44 No. 1
String Quartet op. 44 No. 2
String Quartet op. 80
“The outstanding Mandelring Quartett, however, play both it and the E minor with the utmost conviction, and their account of Op 80 does justice to that harrowing expression of Mendelssohn’s despair at the death of his beloved sister Fanny.” (Sunday Times)
“Even by the phenomenally high standards they have set themselves, this Mandelring Quartet disc must count as one of their finest achievements on disc to date.” (SA-CD.net)
AUDITE 92.656 SACD | 2012
Chamber Music for Strings Vol. 1
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
String Quartet op. 12
String Quartet op. 13
String Quartet in E flat major (1823)
“Throughout, the playing is technically immaculate an the whole disc is recorded with absolute clarity. One looks forward to the promised continuation of this complete edition of Mendelssohn’s string chamber music.” (Strad Magazine)
AUDITE 92.545 SACD | 2010
Leoš Janáček
String Quartet No. 1 – “Kreutzer Sonata”
String Quartet No. 2 – “Intimate Letters”
String Quartet No. 2 – “Intimate Letters”
(version with viola d’amore)
with Gunter Teuffel, viola d’amore
German Record Critics’ Prize 2011
“The Mandelring players bring a remarkable high-voltage intensity to all these quartets … They can be beautiful, certainly, in both quartets, but this is disquieting stuff, superbly played.” (The Strad)
AUDITE 92.574 SACD | 2010
Robert Schumann
Piano Quartet op. 47
Piano Quintet op. 44
with Claire-Marie Le Guay, piano
“Le Guay and the Mandelring respond to its genius with obvious enjoyment.” (Sunday Times)
AUDITE 92.530 SACD | 2009
Complete String Quartets Vol. 5
Dmitri Schostakowitsch
String Quartet No. 11
String Quartet No. 13
String Quartet No. 15
“If I were to shed all but two cycles (and of course I could never), I would keep the Borodin cycle on Melodiya and the Mandelring Quartet to cover my bases.” (Fanfare)
“This final volume of their Shostakovich cycle brings a major undertaking to an impressive conclusion..” (Strings Magazine)
AUDITE 92.529 SACD | 2009
Complete String Quartets Vol. 4
Dmitri Schostakowitsch
String Quartet No. 10
String Quartet No. 12
String Quartet No. 14
“The Mandelring Quartett, more than any other ensemble I’ve heard in these three quartets, brings out the music’s essential equivocations. That they do so with a luxurious sound and with unanimity of intention is reason enough to welcome this release and its predecessors and to give it a strong vote as the Shostakovich cycle of choice.” (International Record Review)
AUDITE 92.528 SACD | 2008
Complete String Quartets Vol. 3
Dmitri Schostakowitsch
String Quartet No. 5
String Quartet No. 7
String Quartet No. 9
“I look forward to the completion of what will prove to be a landmark issue.” (Audiophile Audition)
AUDITE 92.527 SACD | 2007
Complete String Quartets Vol. 2
Dmitri Schostakowitsch
String Quartet No. 3
String Quartet No. 6
String Quartet No. 8
“In this second volume of Shostakovich’s Quartets the Mandelring Quartet makes it abundantly clear that it is building one of the outstanding cycles in today’s catalogue” (Strad Magazine)
AUDITE 92.526 SACD | 2006
Complete String Quartets Vol. 1
Dmitri Schostakowitsch
String Quartet No. 1
String Quartet No. 2
String Quartet No. 4
“I may still go back to the Emersons sometimes for that adrenaline rush, but they’d no longer be my first choice. Amazing!” (SA-CD.net)
AUDITE 97.505 | 2007
Brahms & Contemporaries Vol. 3
Johannes Brahms
String Quartet op. 51/2
Felix Otto Dessoff
String Quartet op. 7
“This disc is worth a strong recommendation for the Brahms A minor alone. But there is more. Rather than point out that the ‘filler’ on the Brahms is “this neat, unknown F.O. Dessoff”, the performance and the quartet deserve to be mentioned, praised, and recommended separately.” (Musicweb International)
AUDITE 97.504 | 2007
Brahms & Contemporaries Vol. 2
Johannes Brahms
String Quartet op. 67
Heinrich von Herzogenberg
String Quartet op. 42/1
“The performance of Brahms’s third and last quartet, in B-flat, Op. 67, is one of the finest to come along in years … Their performance of the Herzogenberg quartet is filled with the kind of energy and belief that seems to say, “we delight in the discovery of this work”. (American Record Guide)
AUDITE 97.503 | 2004
Brahms & Contemporaries Vol. 1
Johannes Brahms
String Quartet op. 51/1
Friedrich Gernsheim
String Quartet op. 31
“Here the Mandelring combine the LaSalle Quartet’s intellectual vigour with the Amadeus’s unbridled passion to provide the best of both worlds.” (Strad Magazine)
AUDITE 92.552 SACD | 2005
String Quartets Vol. 3
Franz Schubert
String Quartet D 887
String Quartet D 173
“With this performance I have found, particularly in the first and second movements, new insight and understanding at almost every turn. Like volume 2 of this series, the ensemble of the Mandelring Quartet is astonishing.” (SA-CD-net)
AUDITE 92.524 SACD | 2005
String Quartets Vol. 2
Franz Schubert
String Quartet D 804 “Rosamunde”
String Quartet D 353
“The great A Minor Quartet is beautifully wistful, poetic, and expressive without being fussy, simple yet deeply felt; the finale is leisurely, graceful, and poised.” (Strings Magazine)
AUDITE 97.507 | 2003
String Quartets Vol. 1
Franz Schubert
String Quartet D 810
“Death and the Maiden”
String Quartet D 87
“The artists plunge into their interpretation, technically perfect in every detail, presenting Schubert as a warm-hearted, emotionally charged and sensitive man, whose bold ideas continually attract our attention.
Especially pleasing in this recording is the extremely sensitive treatment of the agogic, which shows the Mandelring Quartet to really be musicians of world class.” (Klassik.com)
CPO 777 151-2 | 2003
VOL. 4
Georges Onslow
Nonett op. 77, a-Moll
Quintett Nr. 19 op. 44 c-Moll
Ma’alot Quintett
Mandelring Quartett
Wolfgang Güttler
“I was impressed in particular by the Mandelring players’ precise attacks and intimate ensemble work in the Quintet’s opening movement and finale. They demonstrate a genuine affection for these pieces, and a belief in their ability to impress modern listeners.” (Fanfare)
CPO 999 793-2 | 2000
VOL. 3
Georges Onslow
String Quartet op. 8/1
String Quartet op. 50
String Quartet op. 46/2
“… the performances could heardly be bettered: rhythms are bracing, the slow movements are superbly sustained – the players finding more profundity in Onslow than one usually hears – and intonation is excellent.” (Strad Magazine)
CPO 999 329-2 | 1997
VOL. 2
Georges Onslow
String Quartet op. 4/1
String Quartet op. 10/1
String Quartet op. 46/3
“Here is another splendid discovery from the Mandelring and cpo. This is a disc to treasure.” (Fanfare)
CPO 999 060-2 | 1997
VOL. 1
Georges Onslow
String Quartet op. 9/1
String Quartet op. 9/3
String Quartet op. 47
“Cultivated, preeminent quartet artistry, the Mandelring Quartet on a fine performance plane… “ (Frankfurter Rundschau)
BellaMusica 31.9082 | 1998
Johannes Brahms
Piano Quintet op. 34
César Franck
Piano Quintet
Kalle Randalu, piano
“This is without doubt one of the most exciting releases of recent times.” (Klassik Heute)
Selbstverlag | 1999
Joseph Haydn
String Quartet op. 77/2
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
String Quartet op. 12
Available through Mandelring Quartet
Largo 5128 | 1994
„Retrospectrum“
Berthold Goldschmidt
String Quartet No. 4
dedicated to the Mandelring Quartett
Currently out of stock, new issue planned
Largo 5117 | 1992
„Early and Late“
Berthold Goldschmidt
String Quartet No. 1
Clarinet Quartet
German Record Reviewers Award
Currently out of stock, new issue planned
Largo 5115 | 1990
„Last Chapters“
Berthold Goldschmidt
String Quartet No. 2
String Quartet No. 3
Currently out of stock, new issue planned
CPO 999 169-2 | 1993
Allan Pettersson
Conzert for Violin and
String Quartet
Ulf Hoelscher, violin