casalQuartett - Franz Xaver Richter: Genesis 1757, 7 Streichquartette Opus 5 (2014) [SACD]

Franz (Czech: František) Xaver Richter, known as François Xavier Richter in France (December 1, 1709 – September 12, 1789) was an Austro-Moravian singer, violinist, composer, conductor and music theoretician who spent most of his life first in Austria and later in Mannheim (Germany) and in Strasbourg (France), where he was music director of the cathedral. From 1783 on Haydn’s favourite pupil Ignaz Pleyel was his deputy at the cathedral.
The most traditional of the first generation composers of the so-called Mannheim school, he was highly regarded in his day as a contrapuntist. As a composer he was equally at home in the concerto and the strict church style. Mozart heard a mass by Richter on his journey back from Paris to Salzburg in 1778 and called it charmingly written. Richter, as a contemporary engraving clearly shows, must have been one of the first conductors to actually have conducted with a music sheet roll in his hand.
Richter wrote chiefly symphonies, concertos for woodwinds, trumpet, chamber and church music, his masses receiving special praise. He was a man of a transitional period, and his symphonies in a way constitute one of the missing links between the generation of Bach and Handel and the Viennese classic. Although sometimes contrapuntal in a learned way, Richter's orchestral works nevertheless exhibit considerable drive and verve. Until a few years ago Richter "survived" with recordings of his trumpet concerto in D major but recently a number of chamber orchestras and ensembles have taken many of his pieces, particularly symphonies and concertos, into their repertoire. He was also on friendly terms with Haydn and Mozart.
wikipedia.org

Even though Franz Joseph Haydn is widely credited as the father of the string quartet, the Casal Quartet makes a startling claim that the honor may belong to Franz Xaver Richter, whose seven String Quartets, Op. 5, seem to have determined the character of the genre, from their first performance by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf's quartet in 1757. Richter's quartets preceded Haydn's and Boccherini's earliest efforts by several years, suggesting that they were likely influential. Furthermore, the sophistication and polish of his Op. 5 suggests that he may well have composed other such quartets, though if he did, they are lost. Many details of Richter's career are elusive, and even though he was a productive composer at the Mannheim court, producing quantities of symphonies, concertos, chamber pieces, and church music, this set is the only example of his string quartet writing. The Casal Quartet plays these works in historically informed style on period instruments, and the care and expression they put into their performances gives them as good a presentation as can be expected. Considering that this SACD is the only recording of Op. 5 available, curious listeners should snap it up immediately, because Richter's oeuvre is by no means established in the repertoire.

Tracks:

Disc 1
String Quartet in C Major, Op. 5, No. 1:
I. Allegro con brio 5:24
II. Poco andante 7:40
III. Rincontro 4:17

String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 5, No. 5b:
I. Larghetto 2:36
II. Allegro spiritoso 3:46
III. Andantino. Grazioso 7:37
IV. Tempo di Minuetto 2:20

String Quartet in D Major, Op. 5, No. 6:
I. Allegretto brilliante 4:50
II. Andante grazioso 8:04
III. Vivace moderato 3:54

String Quartet in A Major, Op. 5, No. 3:
I. Allegretto 6:01
II. Andante 5:44
III. Tempo di Minuetto 3:08


Disc 2
String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 5, No. 4:
I. Larghetto 7:09
II. Allegro spiritoso 5:00
III. Tempo di Minuetto 2:50

String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 5, No. 2:
I. Poco Allegretto 6:03
II. Poco Andante 7:40
III. Fugato 3:27

String Quartet in G Major, Op. 5, No. 5:
I. Allegretto 6:56
II. Andante 8:18
III. Vivace 3:59

Personnel:

Corinne Chapelle, first violin
Rachel Späth, second violin
Markus Fleck, viola
Andreas Fleck, Violoncello