
Series 7 of 8 productions Beethoven Complete String Quartets with Quartetto di Cremona
This position is documented by the series begun by audite of the complete Beethoven string quartets - a cycle that has always been a touchstone for all quartets.
audite Musikproduktion
Hülsenweg 7
D-32760 Detmold






Pierre Fournier (1906-1986) was one of the most eminent cellists of the generation after Pablo Casals. Praised as an "aristocratof cello playing", he was admired for his soulful, singing tone, his uncomplicated elegance and his refined sound. This disc presents three live recordings from this legacy, recorded at LUCERNE FESTIVAL and all of them released for the first time, including Saint-Saëns' First Cello Concert in Aminor, Op. 33 as well as Casals Cant dels ocells. Beside this Fournier performed together with István Kertész a piece of his core repertoire in the summer of 1967: Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concertoin B minor, Op. 104 - a particularly noteworthy archive discovery since the conductor's tragically early death had prevented him from making a studio recording of the concerto.
The recordings of Zara Nelsova from the sound archives of RIAS Berlin, made between 1956 and 1965, complement her discography substantially, giving a more rounded impression of her artistic profile. They include works which Nelsova never recorded commercially and which are available on disc for the first time, such as the Cello Concertos by Darius Milhaud (No 1) and Dmitri Kabalewski (No 1).
A great moment in Berlin's post-war musical life: on 5 March 1963 the 18-year-old cellist Jacqueline du Pré and the 22-year-old pianist Bruno Leonardo Gelber made their solo concerto débuts. The poetry, energy and musical coherence of du Pré's interpretation of the Schumann Cello Concerto rank alongside her later recording of the piece.
The latest production in this series is dedicated to the exceptional French cellist Paul Tortelier, whose studio recordings from 1949-1964 for the Berlin RIAS are published here for the very first time and impressively reflect the enormous range of his repertoire.


