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"The highlight of Metamorphosis, the Jupiter String Quartet’s new album, is the ensemble’s wild, kinetic account of György Ligeti’s String Quartet no. 1. Written in the early ’50s, it ranks among the most insanely challenging pieces to pull off, technically and expressively. Not only does the JSQ manage those demands, but they make the piece sound utterly natural and effortless.
In all, this is a tremendous Ligeti performance: a testament both to the JSQ’s formidable chops and their impressive rapport as an ensemble." - Jonathan Blumhofer, The Arts Fuse
"In Ligeti’s Bartók-on-acid First Quartet, the Jupiter players are simply superb: theatrical, full of dark humour, alive to the composer’s switchback flips of style. And they achieve it all with an unerring fidelity to the letter of the score, peering through the work’s abundant grotesqueries and bizarre sonic inventiveness to Ligeti’s meanings – sometimes sinister, sometimes playful – underneath. It’s a joy from start to finish, and often bewitching in its uncanny beauty." - David Kettle, The Strad
"The Jupiter String Quartet delivers in a new Marquis Classics release a noble performance filled with gravitas that never lapses into self-importance.
One of Beethoven’s favorite quartets, the Op. 131 in C-sharp Minor, is a late in life work that seems to embody in sound the composer’s ever untiring journey into still-to-be discovered musical territory... The Jupiter players, like the god of antiquity after which they name themselves are masterful at keeping their individuality.
György Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1, "Métamorphoses nocturnes" completes the album with its 20th century mix of tonal ambivalence contained in seventeen interconnected movements.
Its music calls for muscular playing and chameleonic changes of attack and intention and the Jupiter String Quartet astonishes with its magically virtuosic playing and its fastidiously meticulous musicianship in one of the finest albums this listener has heard thus far in this troubled 2020." - Rafael de Acha, Music Notes
Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 131 in C-sharp Minor requires prolonged and intense communion among the players of the quartet. The four voices intertwine in the most intricate ways, traversing together the massive seven-movement span without pause. Along the way, they explore a wonderland of emotional worlds, ranging from the most strained intensity to the gentlest intimacy.
György Ligeti’s stunning String Quartet No. 1, Métamorphoses nocturnes, pairs well with the Beethoven quartet. A masterpiece in its own right, it contains a similarly powerful trajectory to that of Op. 131, but condensed into a shorter span. The technical challenges are even more extreme, as the quartet must transform from the harsh climaxes to the soft textures with little time to prepare in between.
The Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg’s older sister), and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg’s husband, Liz’s brother-in-law). This tight-knit ensemble is firmly established as an important voice in the world of chamber music.
Catalog: MAR 499
Available on Amazon
Track Listing
Ludwig van Beethoven: Quartet in C# minor, Op. 131
1. I Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2. II Allegro molto vivace (Listen)
3. III Allegro moderato
4. IV Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile
5. V Presto
6. VI Adagio quasi un poco andante
7. VII Allegro
György Ligeti
8. String Quartet No. 1 (Métamorphoses nocturnes)
Total playing time: 1:01
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