Jerusalem Quartet & Alexander Melnikov (piano)

SCHUMANN OPUS 44

Those who would like to get to know Haydn's string quartets should consult the Jerusalem Quartet. Their fresh, lively, sometimes even boisterous renditions of the 'Leeuweriken' or 'Quintenquartet' grab many music lovers by the throat. They convince with the same energy and sound beauty with Mozart's string quartets. They play his KV 421, one of the gems he dedicated to his teacher Joseph Haydn. Schumann's opus 44 is considered a first practice in the 'piano quintet' genre (string quartet plus piano). This expressive masterpiece can easily be read as a declaration of love to his wife, the virtuoso pianist Clara Schumann: the piano has barely six bars of rest in this thirty-minute piece. The collaboration with Alexander Melnikov, who has surprised us in recent years with one excellent solo and chamber music album after another, must produce fireworks.

Jerusalem Quartet: Alexander Pavlovsky & Sergei Bresler (violin), Ori Kam (viola), Kyril Zlotnikov (cello)

"They make music with an almost illegitimate heave in the loins. The boys of Jerusalem likes to make Mozart smell like the sun, but also seeks shade when it suits. (De Standaard, April 2011)