“Martinů. String quartets”, Stamic Quartet

In these showcases, dedicated to new disc releases, it is sometimes essential to mention a major reissue. The Stamic Quartet recorded for the small German label Bayer, in 1990, the seven string quartets of Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959), plus the 3 Madrigals for violin and viola and the Threesome^o 2. For 35 years, this music has still not found its way into programs, while Shostakovich is played in spades (but even Bartók has almost disappeared). As for Shostakovich, the string quartet was an important expressive vehicle for Martinů, who confided to him impulses, doubts and heartbreaks. He concentrated his anxieties in the poignant 5^e Quartet, whose adagio will chill your blood. The Prazák Quartet played in Montreal in 2007 on 3^e Quartet (1929), fueled by questions about the musical path to follow: tonality or atonality, rhythm or melody? This massif opens onto “the” masterpiece: a 1^er Quartetaccomplice of Ravel and Debussy, witness to the Francophilia of a great and underestimated composer.

Click here to listen to an excerpt.

To watch on video