CHERUBINI: String Quartets 1 & 6

Hausmusik London

CPO 999463

Luigi Cherubini's six string quartets are considered by connoisseurs to be an insider's tip for great chamber music. Not only because of their quality, but because one simply does not expect this genre from an Italian opera composer living in 19th century Paris. However, things are somewhat different :

Cherubini, who was born in Florence in 1760 and made his debut with church music, settled in Paris in 1786 in order to establish himself here as an opera composer; in 1797 he succeeded impressively with Medea, but already a few years later his star began to decline: Spontini and Meyerbeer were the new opera stars. Since 1822 director of the Conservatoire, Cherubini was removed from the daily business and was honored and feared as an unrestricted musical authority. In this situation, it was possible to write string quartets even in opera-crazy Paris. And what a lot of them!

Convince yourself of this in our new recording on original instruments with the ensemble HAUSMUSIK London, which has already won numerous prizes with its phenomenal primaria Monica Huggett.

Works:

•Cherubini: String Quartet No. 1 in E flat major
•Cherubini: String Quartet No. 6 in A minor

CD x 1

CPO

11/13/98

761203946327