Beethoven - String Quartet 9 [Quartetto Italiano]Another installment in my ongoing love of Beethoven's String Quartets, and especially the Quartetto Italiano's interpretation of them, this set is starting to become really treasurable to me, and only the set by the Lindsay String Quartet is more deeply ingrained in my psyche, the Middle String Quartets for me are the best Quartets Beethoven composed, many people rage about his Late Quartets, i don't see it, nothing beats 7-11 in my opinion, the Razumovsky Quartets seem to be overshadowed by the opening Quartet [No7], it's the best of the bunch, but now i'm beginning to see the worth of the others as well, his number Nine is the least impregnated in my heart.
The second movement Andante is a brooding study, in the minor key of A Minor, it's main feature is a cello that is almost a metronome!, with the cello starting the movement with a serious one note pluck! doh!, Franco Rossi almost ends up the drummer of the group!, but it's this pizzicato, and the very bass end of the cello that gives it it's resonance, the other strings are fairly dour in this opening [0:00-2:46], then comes a ray of sunshine in a sweeter episode [2:47-3:34], even the cello gets to do some bowing!, after a darker episode this simple sweetness returns [5:21+], and yet again [6:08-6:55], but this time the first violin soars like a bird, while the cello in its bass pizzicato mode drips like rain, right at the end the cello pizzicato gets louder and louder [9:36+], the final notes are the whole Quartet having a pizzicato! [9:54-9:57], i guess the cello converted them all in the end, a lovely brooding slow movement from Beethoven.
Here's the Alban Berg Quartet playing the second movement on YouTube.
