For the first time in awhile, the Suske Quartett isn’t performing for my listening pleasure.

On today’s CD, there two sets of musicians.

The first is:

Zurich String Quintet (Tracks 1-8)

Boris Livschitz violin
Matyas Bartha violin
Zvi Livschitz violas
Dominik Ostertag violas
Mikayel Hakhnazaryan cello

The second is:

Perez Quartet (Tracks 9-13)

Carolina Kurkowski Perez violin I
Clemens Schuldt violin II
Alexander Kiss viola
Chiho Takata viola (track 13)
Simon Deffner cello

The compositions are:

String Quintet in E Flat Op. 4

Fugue in D Op. 137

Duet in E Flat Wo032

The first one – String Quintet in E Flat Op. 4 – is quite nice. Sprightly. Movement IV (“Finale: Presto”) is especially refreshing, given all of the more ponderous quartets and quintets lately.

And, for a really nice shot in the arm, Fugue in D Op. 137 can’t be beat. Give me a good fugue any day and I’m a happy guy.

Also of great interest to me is Track 11, which is “Prelude and Fugue in C Hess 31 for string quartet.” Most of the duets in the last composition are fun to listen to.