Pre-romance with Haydn, beauty and death with Schubert, and finally a wild hunt with Jörg Widmann, which ends in a muffled cry. These are the ingredients of this CD by the Ragazze Quartet. Haydn's Quartet op.76 No. 2 is a masterpiece in which abstract counterpoint effortlessly blends with drama and pathos. Schubert's Quartet D.810 owes its nickname 'Der Tod und das Mädchen' to the Andante, which
… is a series of variations on the song of the same name. Jörg Widmann - pupil of Hans Werner Henze and Wolfgang Rihm, among others - closes the CD with a contemporary Hunting Quartet (Jagdquartett). The fierce music is accompanied by the no less fierce screams of the quartet members. However, it ends badly with the hunters. In the end, they have apparently become the prey of a gruesome monster themselves. (HJ)more
