Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Quatuor à cordes en sol majeur, op. 33 n° 5, Hob. III:41

Jan Krtitel Vanhal (1739-1813)
Quatuorà cordes en la majeur, op. 33 n° 2

Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799)
Quatuor à cordes n° 5 en mi bémol majeur, Kr 195

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Quatuor à cordes n° 19 en do mineur, K 465 "Les Dissonances"

Bennewitz Quartet

Jakub Fišer, violon
Štepán Ježek, violon
Jirí Pinkas, alto
Štepán Doležal, violoncelle

Merveilleux programme que ce florilège de Quatuors de la grande période du classicisme viennois. Deux maîtres et deux petits maîtres égalent quatre : le cinquième de l’op. 33 de Haydn, le deuxième d’un autre op. 33 celui du bohémien Jan Krtitel Vanhal (1739-1813), un Quatuor de Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799) et le fameux K 465 "Dissonance" de Mozart. Le Haydn est une œuvre assez brève que le quatuor exécute comme il faut, prestement et sans chercher midi à quatorze heures. Celui de Vanhal se moule dans le style "Sturm und Drang", avec ces brusques contrastes émotionnels et ces envolées et suspensions des cordes. Il illustre à la perfection le genre : une forme sonate, un intermède sentimental, un pas de danse et un final enlevé. L’autrichien Dittersdorf qui fut le maître de Vanhal joue dans la même cour mais se montre dans son écriture moins conventionnel et plus riche en surprises (les marches harmoniques). Quant au K 465 de Mozart il détonne par sa structure originale, son raffinement harmonique et sa richesse mélodique. Toutes qualités que le quatuor Bennevitz qui joue sur instruments modernes sert à merveille. Très belle prise de son. (Jérôme Angouillant)

“…Storace gave a quartet party to his friends. The players were tolerable, not one of them excelled on the instrument he played; but there was a little science among them, which I dare say will be acknowledged when I name them: First violin Haydn, second violin Baron Dittersdorf, violoncello Vanhal, viola Mozart…” The tenor Michael Kelly’s recollection of that musical evening in 1784 in Vienna has been the source of much speculation by musicologists, and it is also one of the things that inspired this recording. The four composers, all highly acclaimed in their day, met in multiethnic Vienna, and they shared the bond of friendship. While Mozart behaved towards Haydn with respect like that of a pupil towards a master and dedicated a series of six string quartets to him (including the “Dissonant Quartet” in C major), Haydn told Mozart’s father that his son was “the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name.” Dittersdorf was likewise unsparing with superlatives in his autobiography: “He is undoubtedly one of the greatest original geniuses, and I have never before known any composer with such an amazing wealth of ideas.” The names of Dittersdorf and Vanhal are familiar to some, but few have encountered their music. This recording offers an opportunity to discover those nearly forgotten masters’ works superbly interpreted by the Bennewitz Quartet. The enthusiastic acclaim of international critics for their previous Haydn album is affirmation of their extraordinary quality in this repertoire.