The German-Austrian-Australian Rosamunde Quartett München was formed in
1991 by four musicians of widely differing backgrounds, and given early
encouragement by Sergiu Celibedache and Heinrich Schiff. A major success
at the Berliner Festwochen a year later elevated them to 'the elite of
the lofty guild of string quartets' to quote one German critic, and
since then they have toured the major festivals. The undervalued work of
Czech composer Burian has been one of the quartet's enthusiasms from
the outset. Here they contrast his 4th String Quartet with
Shostakovich's 8th - in the process alluding to the troubled biographies
of both men - in a programme that begins with Webern's farewell to
Romanticism in the Langsamer Satz.
'One of the finest discs to come from ECM of late by the little-known
but distinguished Rosamunde Quartet. The Webern dates from his
short-live Romantic period, in style close to late Strauss or Schoenberg
of Verklärte Nacht. Shostakovich's elegiac String Quartet No. 8,
dedicated to 'the victims of fascism and war', glints with irony and
self-reference, while the Czech Burian manages to be at once sinister
and dreamy.'
(Fiona Maddocks, The Observer)
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