EUGEN D'ALBERT (1864-1932): String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 7, String Quartet No. 2 in E Flat, Op. 11.

Description: D'Albert's two string quartets (1887 and 1893 respectively) show a young composer with a capacity for writing sweeping, memorable tunes on a large, Brahmsian scale (especially the first quartet's opening movement) and imbued with that composer's generosity and humanity. Praised by the critic Hanslick for its "intellectual intensity", the second quartet hints at Beethoven's Op. 127 in its beginning, contains a scherzo of Mozartian grace and a deeply adagio with a singing cantilena before concluding in a sharply accented allegro finale. Sarastro Quartet. Original 1997 Pan Classics release (07-040).