Brahms: Complete String Sextets Mandelring Quartett, Roland Glassl & Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt

• Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18:
• 1String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro ma non Troppo13:14
• 2String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: II. Andante ma Moderato08:14
• 3String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo. Allegro Molto03:02
• 4String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: IV. Rondo. Poco Allegretto e Grazioso09:32
• String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36:
• 5String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: I. Allegro non Troppo13:42
• 6String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: II. Scherzo. Allegro non Troppo07:17
• 7String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: III. Poco Adagio08:00
• 8String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: IV. Poco Allegro08:34
• Total Runtime01:11:35

Info for Brahms: Complete String Sextets

Following the two quintets, the extended Mandelring Quartet now presents the two string sextets by Johannes Brahms. This recording completes the audite series of Brahms' Chamber Music for Strings with the Mandelring Quartet. As in the quintets, the ensemble is joined by its long-standing former violist, Roland Glassl, for the second viola part. The second cello part is played by the renowned cellist Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.

In Brahms' oeuvre, the sextets broke new ground. Their dark hues and their inclination towards symphonic sonorities are often accentuated. In this recording, the lyrical moments as well as Brahms' masterfully transparent, seemingly three-dimensional writing, and thus the works' inner contrasts, are also emphasised.

Roland Glassl, violin
Mandelring Quartett
Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, conductor

Roland Glassl
Hailed by The Strad magazine as the "new century's new talent, (one of) the stars of the next decade,” German violist Roland Glassl was launched into an international career as prizewinner of many prestigious national and international competitions.

Glassl was the first German to win the first prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in England, where he was also awarded the Peter Schidlof Prize for the finalist with the most beautiful tone. Other awards include first prize at the II. Viola Competition of the German Viola Society, top prize at the 1st International Viola Competition Vienna, second prize at the Primrose Viola Competition, and first prize at the Washington International Competition for strings.

Concert tours have take him through Europe, North- and South America, and China. Glassl has appeared at Wigmore Hall in London, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Peking, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago/ USA, Chamber Music International (CMI) in Dallas/ USA, the Caramoor Festival in New York, Musica Riva in Riva del Garda/ Italy, and Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove/England.

As a soloist, Glassl has performed with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Howard Griffiths, Hans Richter, Markus Poschner, Alfred Eschwé, Julius Karr-Bertoli and orchestras such as the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, the China National Opera House Symphony Orchestra, the Georgian Chamber Orchestra, the German Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate, the Pécs Symphony Orchestra, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Chamber Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, Glassl has collaborated with leading artists, including Julia Fischer, Michael Sanderling, Lisa Batiashvili, Miriam Fried, Pekka Kuusisto, Sharon Kam, Atar Arad, Leon Fleischer, Michael Tree, and Hariolf Schlichtig.

From 1999 to 2015 Roland Glassl was the violist of the Mandelring Quartet, recognised as one of the foremost quartets in the world with frequent engagements in virtually every major chamber music hall. The quartet’s numerous recordings, which span much of their wide-ranging repertoire, have garnered the German Music Critics’ Prize as well as multiple nominations for the International Classical Music Award.

Since 2004, Glassl is professor of viola at the at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt as successor of Tabea Zimmermann.

Roland Glassl was born in Germany, into a luthier's family with a tradition of many generations of violin making. He currently performs on a viola made by his father, who was also his first violin teacher. Later, he continued his studies at the “Musikhochschule München” with Ana Chumachenco. After receiving his artist diploma with distinction, he came to the United States to study violin with Paul Biss and viola with Atar Arad at Indiana University. Fascinated by the deep, warm sound of the viola, he decided to devote himself to the instrument and its music.

Booklet for Brahms: Complete String Sextets