Artist: Chiaroscuro Quartet Title: Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 59 Nos. 1 - 2 Year Of Release: 2026 Label: BIS Genre: Classical Quality: flac lossless (tracks) / 24bits - 192.0kHz Total Time: 01:18:01 Total Size: 2.83 gb Tracklist 01. String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 Razumovsky: I. Allegro 02. String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 Razumovsky: II. Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando 03. String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 Razumovsky: III. Adagio molto e mesto 04. String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 Razumovsky: IV. Allegro (Thème russe) 05. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 Razumovsky: I. Allegro 06. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 Razumovsky: II. Molto adagio 07. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 Razumovsky: III. Allegretto – Maggiore (Thème russe) 08. String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59 No. 2 Razumovsky: IV. Finale. Presto The Chiaroscuro Quartet is now offering us the fourth instalment of their ongoing complete recording of Beethoven’s string quartets. This latest release spotlights the first two of the three opus 59 quartets known as the ‘Razumovsky’, named for their patron, the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Razumovsky, who maintained a house quartet in his palace. Beethoven was particularly proud of these new quartets, despite the initial bewilderment they provoked among audiences, critics and even performers. Famously, when a violinist complained of their difficulty, Beethoven retorted: ‘Oh, they are not for you, but for a later age.” The first, in F Major, was almost certainly the longest string quartet composed up to that point and its unprecedented weight and density of argument earn it the moniker the Eroica among Beethoven’s quartets . The second, in E minor, is often described as a ‘close cousin’ of the ‘Appassionata’ Sonata, in that both works —composed at around the same time— are permeated by a profound darkness from start to finish. The Chiaroscuro Quartet’s previous installments in this cycle have already garnered superlative praise from the musical press, hailed as “breathtaking”, “bristling with excitement and youthful vitality”, and “a very special experience”. There is no doubt this latest release is poised to achieve similar critical acclaim