Audio

Notes from a Journey

Winner Best Classical Album at Vodafone NZ Music Awards 2011

A diverse and fascinating collection of works for string quartet by NZ composers John Psathas, Jack Body, Ross Harris, Gareth Farr and Michael Norris. 

"This celebration of the inspirational symbiosis that these four musicians share with our composer community has much going for it. If one could venture a superlative for the word immaculate, then this production would deserve it; as far as visual presentation is concerned, Simon Kaan's “Untitled Waka” on the cover could not be bettered for cool elegance.” 
William Dart, NZ Herald

December 2010 Atoll CD Ltd ACD 118

Producer: Wayne Laird

Schubert / String Quartet No. 15 in G Major D.887

Schubert represents a milestone in the Quartet’s career of over 25 years with a recording of Franz Schubert’s masterpiece, String Quartet in G Major. As Schubert’s final and most epic string quartet, it is essential listening for classical music and string quartet enthusiasts. Schubert pushed the boundaries of string quartet writing of his time by including a huge range of dramatic contrast and requiring a high level of technical prowess from performers. This work is inventive and conveys a sense of urgency with its major/minor harmonic conflict, sudden accents and change of dynamics. It remains as a pinnacle of string quartet repertoire.

2013 HRL Morrison Music Trust Records

Catalogue Number: MMT2062

Producer: Norbert Kraft & Bonnie Kraft

Engineer: Norbert Kraft

Asian Music for String Quartet

This programme brings together aesthetic and musical elements of East and West. Zhou Long captures the essence of the Chinese plucked ch’in, and Cambodian aesthetics are preserved in Chinary Ung’s expressive Spiral III. Tan Dun’s Eight Colors combines the exotic timbres of Peking Opera with Second Viennese School tonalities. Gao Ping’s Bright Light and Cloud Shadows has been admired for its ‘long-breathed brush strokes’ (Washington Post). Taking its inspiration from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, Toru Takemitsu’s be­autifully crafted A Way a Lone evokes a shimmering sound world.

November 2012 Naxos Classical Catalogue no 8.572488
Producer: Norbert Kraft & Bonnie Silver
Engineer: Norbert Kraft

Mendelssohn String Quartets Vol.1 / Nos. 1, 4, 6

With their often turbulent and dark-hued openings, poignant slow movements, elfin Scherzos reminiscent of the music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and tense, thrilling last movements of perpetual motion, Mendelssohn’s String Quartets are works of considerable emotional range and mastery of form. This first disc of the complete String Quartets ranges from the youthful No. 1, Op. 12 (actually the second of the published quartets) to the great, tragic String Quartet No. 6, Op. 80, Mendelssohn’s last major work, composed after the death of his sister.

March 2008 Naxos Classical Catalogue 8.570001
Producer: Norbert Kraft & Bonnie Silver
Engineer: Norbert Kraft

Mendelssohn String Quartets Vol.2 / Nos. 2 & 5

The New Zealand String Quartet’s first Naxos recording of Mendelssohn’s string quartets (8.570001) was praised as ‘an auspicious start’ by Gramophone and ‘opulently recorded’ byClassic FM magazine. Its warmly affectionate accounts continue with this second of three volumes, including Mendelssohn’s posthumously published Capriccio and Fugue in E minor which display his polished mastery of counterpoint. The composer’s respect for Beethoven is evident in both the quartets on this disc, although in his marriage of Classical style and Romantic impulse, Mendelssohn’s vivacious brilliance and lyrical gifts are never overshadowed.

October 2009 Naxos Classical Catalogue 8.570002

Producer: Bonnie Silver & Norbert Kraft

Engineer: Norbert Kraft