Jerusalem Quartet
Bartók: Streichquartets Nos. 2, 4 & 6 – Kosmos Bartók
Masterpieces of 20th century chamber music
»Like Beethoven’s string quartets, Béla Bartók’s six string quartets contain the composer’s most sublime music. If there is anything in 20thcentury music which may convince our descendants that our age was not as barbaric as history depicts it, if such music exists, then it is Bartók’s string quartets.« The words of the English musicologist and critic Cecil Mason, formulated in 1950 just five years after Bartók’s early death, have often been quoted and have become famous.
With good reason, because they place Bartók’s string quartets both in the neighbourhood of Beethoven’s quartet oeuvre, which was Bartók’s natural, unsurpassable reference, and also point to the special position of these six works in the music history of the 20th century. No other composer of his generation succeeded in taking the string quartet genre to such heights again in six highly individualised new approaches. Even Shostakovich’s works later failed to surpass Bartók’s achievements.
The Jerusalem Quartet has performed these works all over the world with its inspiring virtuosity. Among other things, a complete cycle at the 2022 Salzburg Festival caused a sensation. The project to record the six pieces on CD was also finalised in 2020.
Performers
Jerusalem Quartet
Alexander Pavlovsky violin
Sergei Bresler violin
Ori Kam viola
Kyril Zlotnikov violoncello
Programme
Béla Bartók
String Quartet No. 2, Sz 67
String Quartet No. 4, Sz 91
– Interval –
Béla Bartók
String Quartet No. 6, Sz 114
Festival
Kosmos Bartók – An NDR Festival