Shanghai Quartet - Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 8 & 9 (2004)

Shanghai Quartet Celebrate with Delos 20 wonderful years of music-making by the Shanghai Quartet! This outstanding Quartet was called by The Strad ‘a foursome of uncommon refinement and musical distinction.’ This versatile group brings the delicacy of Eastern music to Western repertoire with passionate musicality and astonishing technique. ‘We saved Beethoven for our 20th anniversary. We believe that music of this stature is the kind of challenge and statement we wish to make on this special occasion. We feel that these quartets, from perhaps the height of Beethoven’s most creative period – 1804-1806 – represent his purest musical expression. They also happen to be among the hardest to play! ‘These quartets also have meaning to us as Chinese musicians. Chinese do not play music simply for entertainment but to elicit profound thoughts in the listener, whether music auditor, poet or scholar. Such music is what traditional Chinese might play upon the death of a beloved, the birth of a child, upon leaving for war, or returning to peace.’ The Shanghai Quartet