Hindemith, Schulhoff, Amann etc
- Amar Quartett of Switzerland

Hindemith 6th Quartet; Puccini Crisantemi; Wolf Italienische Serenade; Barber: String Quartet op.11. Schulhoff: Alla Tarantella.
AMAR-Quartett (CD en avant) (swissmusic)

Amar Quartett, founded 1987: Anna Brunner (violin); Daria Zappa (violin); Hannes Bärtschi (viola); Maja Weber (violoncello).

Taking on the mantle of the original Amar-Hindemith Quartet, this young Swiss group is very eclectic in its range of focus, and three of their discs received have given considerable pleasure.

For non-specialist chamber music collectors the one listed above is the one to go for; well played and recorded, it would be even more desirable if all five Schulhof Funf Stücke had been included; at 53 mins, the disc is short measure.

They have a live recording of light music (Freisler, Burkholz etc) and - most interesting for our readers, perhaps - a Migros-Grammont Portrait disc of a truly original Swiss composer Dieter Ammann including his Distance Quartet, which really is somethig special [MGB CTS-M 124].

It reminded me that we have over the years reviewed a number of Swiss Composer Portraits from this enterprising supermarket firm.

Peter Grahame Woolf