Saint-Saens: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2

The Fine Arts Quartet’s albums of Mendelssohn’s String Quintets (8.570488) and Glazunov’s chamber music (8.570256) were named “Recordings of the Year” by Musicweb International, and their recording of Schumann’s string quartets ( 8.570151) was hailed by the American Record Guide as “one of the very finest chamber music recordings of the year”. On this disc the acclaimed Fine Arts Quartet performs Camille Saint-Saëns’s two magnificent string quartets. “Saint-Saëns has been unfairly tarnished as being a lightweight composer,” notes first violinist Ralph Evans. “Listening to these serious, intellectual, brilliantly crafted yet delightful works will change minds in a hurry.”