PACM017:
String Quartet No 16 in E flat, K.428 - Mozart
MP3
price
Prisca
Quartet
Recordedin Germany in 1935
Issued in the UK as Decca "Polydor" Series DE.7036-DE.7039
Matrix numbers: 2637gn, 2638½gn, 2639½gn, 2640gn,
2641½gn, 2642½gn, 2643½gn, 2644½gn.
(Duration
33'26")
Walter
Prisca (1st Violin)
Will
Smit (2nd violin)
Carl
Eugen Korner (Viola)
Hans
Munch-Holland (Cello)
Play
sample movement:
Mozart's
string quartets were surprisingly neglected during the 78rpm era, and
it was astonishing to find that this masterpiece from his series of six
quartets dedicated to Haydn received almost no attention whatsoever. We
managed to trace a 1912 recording of the third movement, and a later US
recording (by the Busch Quartet) of the full work, but this rare use appears
to be the first attempt to make available commercially Mozart's 16th String
Quartet.
The
plot thickens when we try to find out more about the quartet and this
recording, probably due to its heritage. An authoritative guide to British
78rpm releases states that Decca released no material in collaboration
with the German Polydor label between 1933 and 1941, yet these discs are
all stamped with the German mechanical copyright imprint, dated 1935,
and it is from this alone that we've been able to date the recording.
Of
the Prisca Quartet, we know of Hans Munch-Holland from his involvement
with Max Strub and the Strub Quartet - in particular his contribution
to their recording of the Bruckner Quintet, remastered and reissued by
Pristine Audio as PACM006. The Prisca Quartet
also recorded Mozart's 20th Quartet, K.499, as well as works by Haydn
and Schubert, and the Bruckner Quintet with S. Meineke. We've also found
mention of a recording of Verdi's Quartet in E minor.
Beyond
that the trail runs dry thus far. What I can say is that this is one of
Mozart's finest quartets, the playing and recording are both superb here,
and those with a sharp ear will note the homage Mozart plays in the third
movement to Haydn, basing his Minuet very closely indeed to the Scherzo
in Haydn's Quartet in E flat major, Op.33 No.2 ("Joke"), as
released on Pristine Audio's PACM013, The Haydn
Quartet Society, Volume Three.
