Amadeus Quartet & Cecil Aronowitz - Mozart: The String Quintets (2005/2017) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

It is often recalled how Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart influenced each other, but the interaction between Mozart and Haydn’s younger brother Michael (1737–1806) receives less attention. We owe Mozart’s two duos for violin and viola to a good turn he did for Michael, who could not complete a commission for six of these pieces. Mozart borrowed one of Michael’s symphonies when he was similarly unable to finish two of his own on time: he added a slow introduction and for a while the hybrid was known as his Symphony no. 37. We have only to hear the open- ing of Michael’s Requiem to realize where Mozart found the sound world for his own Requiem. And we owe Mozart’s string quintets – his finest body of chamber music – to the ex- ample of the younger Haydn, a fellow employee of the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg. …

"The Amadeus is distinguished by fine playing and the recordings are remarkably successful in their CD transfers, with only a slight degree of thinness on top to date the earlier sessions. The Amadeus accounts of the C minor (K.406) and C major (K.515) works are particularly searching and spontaneous, and obviously much thought and skill have gone into the matter of internal balance as well as the interpretations. Their account of the G minor (K.516) with its Elysian slow movement has also been admired, and there is no question about the refinement and polish of the playing, both here and in the D major (K. 593)." (Penguin Guide, 1992)

Tracklist:
1. String Quintet In C Minor, K.406 (After K.388): 1. Allegro 08:16
2. String Quintet In C Minor, K.406 (After K.388): 2. Andante 04:16
3. String Quintet In C Minor, K.406 (After K.388): 3. Menuetto In Canone 04:16
4. String Quintet In C Minor, K.406 (After K.388): 4. Allegro 05:52
5. String Quintet In C Major, K.515: 1. Allegro 09:11
6. String Quintet In C Major, K.515: 2. Andante 05:47
7. String Quintet In C Major, K.515: 3. Menuetto (Allegretto) 09:02
8. String Quintet In C Major, K.515: 4. (Allegro) 07:17
9. String Quintet In D Major, K.593: 1. Larghetto - Allegro 08:49
10. String Quintet In D Major, K.593: 2. Adagio 06:07
11. String Quintet In D Major, K.593: 3. Menuetto (Allegretto) 04:58
12. String Quintet In D Major, K.593: 4. Allegro (2. Finale) 04:13
13. String Quintet In B Flat Major, K.174: 1. Allegro moderato 06:12
14. String Quintet In B Flat Major, K.174: 2. Adagio 06:23
15. String Quintet In B Flat Major, K.174: 3. Menuetto ma allegretto 04:04
16. String Quintet In B Flat Major, K.174: 4. Allegro 05:41
17. String Quintet No.4 In G Minor, K.516: 1. Allegro 10:20
18. String Quintet No.4 In G Minor, K.516: 2. Menuetto (Allegretto) 05:15
19. String Quintet No.4 In G Minor, K.516: 3. Adagio ma non troppo 08:44
20. String Quintet No.4 In G Minor, K.516: 4. Adagio - Allegro 10:23
21. String Quintet In E-Flat Major, K.614: 1. Allegro di molto 07:08
22. String Quintet In E-Flat Major, K.614: 2. Andante 06:50
23. String Quintet In E-Flat Major, K.614: 3. Menuetto (Allegretto) 03:38
24. String Quintet In E-Flat Major, K.614: 4. Allegro 04:56

Personnel:
Cecil Aronowitz, 2nd viola
Amadeus Quartet

Digitally remastered