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SCHUBERT
String Quintet in C D956*
String Quartet No 15 in G D887
String Quartet No 14 in D minor D810
(Death and the Maiden)
BELCEA QUARTET
*VALENTIN ERBEN cello 
EMI 2CD 50999 9 67025 9 

“Here, (…) the harrowing intensity of Schubert’s most famous string quartet is extended through the severe beauty of the Quartet in G (…) and the epic narrative of the Quintet in C, where cellist Valentin Erben matches the lean, concentrated Belcea sound in long, intelligent phrases.”  The Independent, November 2009

The Belcea Quartet has added three late masterpieces by Franz Schubert to their impressive discography on EMI Classics: the Quartet in D minor ‘Death and the Maiden’, the Quartet in G Major and the beautiful String Quintet in C Major with Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet as the second cellist. With these three works one can see that Schubert was determined to establish himself as a composer of large-scale works in the Viennese line of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. They are difficult and tense affairs to perform and they also demand quite a bit of concentration from the listener.

The String Quintet in C was Schubert’s last visionary chamber work completed during the composers miraculously prolific final autumn of 1828. The addition of a second cello to the quartet texture (Mozart in his quintets preferred a second viola) does create a more powerful sonority and added tension and drive. Perhaps he should have considered an additional cello part in his String Quartet in D minor. The String Quintet in C is not a serene work and the Belcea Quartet version is slightly faster and full of tension – in fact it could be called a high voltage performance.

by Mike Ford