Quartet Integra - Beethoven, Ligeti & Lefkowitz: String Quartets (2025) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: I. Allegretto
02. String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: II. Vivace
03. String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: III. Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo
04. String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135: IV. Der schwer gefasste Entschluss. Grave, ma non troppo tratto - Allegro
05. String Quartet No. 2: I. Allegro nervoso
06. String Quartet No. 2: II. Sostenuto, molto calmo
07. String Quartet No. 2: III. Come un meccanismo di precisione
08. String Quartet No. 2: IV. Presto furioso, brutale, tumultuoso
09. String Quartet No. 2: V. Allegro con delicatezza
10. Green Mountains, Now Black

The members of this extraordinary young string quartet Quartet Integra - Kyoka Misawa and Rintaro Kikuno on violins, Itsuki Yamamoto on viola and cellist Ye Un Park - perform classical, romantic, contemporary and renaissance music with equal excellence.

The album opens with Ludwig van Beethoven's last published work, String Quartet No. 16, composed in 1826, his final statement in his groundbreaking series. Beethoven wrote this piece at the height of his Romantic creative powers, but the quartet looks back with irony. Next, the Integra Quartet turns to Ligeti's groundbreaking Sonata No. 2 from 1968, finding beauty and tranquility in this 20-minute work that actually requires seatbelts - mid-20th century techniques and soundscapes meet humor and transcendent energy. The final piece is Green Mountains, Now Black, a new work by David S. Lefkowitz. The work quotes Monteverdi's earliest surviving opera Orfeo as well as passages from The Coronation of Poppea, including the magical and unmistakable love duet between Poppea and Emperor Nero. Rather than merely transposing popular arias, choral passages and this famous duet for string quartet, Lefkowitz wrote a work that sheds light on the fundamental nature of a string quartet. He experiments with the genre, pushing boundaries and incorporating his own despair at witnessing much of Los Angeles go up in flames in the spring of 2025. Prior to their residency at the Colburn, Quartet Integra won a four-year scholarship to the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy, where they were taught by Tokyo Quartet members Koichiro Harada, Kikuei Ikeda and Kazuhide Isomura.

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