The String Quartets

- These two string quartets are among the great master pieces from the repertory of the 20th century and they were both written by a composer at the peak of his powers. The Second String Quartet is in fact the very last work Janácek wrote before his sudden death in 1928 at the age of 74. It was a spontaneous expression of his deep and passionate love for a much younger woman and as such a sincere emotional confession of his most inner feelings.

- We know that this is not one of the longest CDs In the catalogue, but we found it Impossible to add another work to these two quartets, since the emotional contents of the works are such that no other work would be fitting.

- This is the repertoire in which the Raphael Quartet excels in today's world of string quartets, and since there are hardly any up-to-date new recordings of these works available in the international CD catalogues, this item will be most welcome for Janácek admirers as well as string quartet lovers.

In the summer of 1981, four string players from various orchestras of the Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation (Ronald Hoogeveen and Rami Koch, violin, Zoltan Benyacs, viola, and Henk Lambooij, cello) banded together to form a string quartet which they named after the great Italian sculptor, painter and architect Rafaello. ln 1983 the Quartet became an official ensemble of the Dutch radio network and made its official concert debut in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. The repertoire of the Raphael Quartet spans a range of styles and periods from Haydn to Shostakovich and many invitations for international concerts have led to a growing critical reputation, which has been enhanced by their still growing number of recordings for Globe with probing performances and for the most part an unusual repertoire choice.