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Glazunov: Complete String Quartets on CD

The renowned Utrecht String Quartet delivered a long overdue and critically acclaimed redemption with their complete recording of Alexander Glazunov's string quartets. These groundbreaking recordings are now available for the first time in an attractive 5-album set - a feast for friends of chamber music, and a treat for all those who seek to discover both the sophisticated and the culinary off the beaten track. The 5 albums represent a long composer's life, from the exuberant youthful works of the "new Samson", as the enthusiastic St. Petersburg audience dubbed the 17-year-old highly gifted composer, to the deeply penetrating masterpieces of the celebrated orchestrator, contrapuntalist and university teacher. Glazunov combines traditional Russian with the refinement of Western compositional art like no other: almost folk-like themes meet oriental flair, rhythmic freedom is combined with ingenious shaping. With this edition, the Utrecht String Quartet set standards that made international critics rejoice: Radio K1 attested to the Utrecht musicians "at the highest level", the Hessische Rundfunk discovered "fun with dance and folk art". The magazine "Ensemble" saw in it "a valuable enrichment of the current chamber music repertoire", and "Crescendo" praised the "refined sound culture" and the "excellent sound engineering".