The Zehetmair Quartett, one of the most exciting and accomplished string quartets of our time, plays a programme of characteristically broad reach. This double album begins with Beethoven’s highly-concentrated opus 135, and concludes with Heinz Holliger’s explosions of fantasy in his 2nd String Quartet, a composition written for, and premiered by, the Zehetmair group. Bruckner’s rarely-heard C-minor quartet is, as Thomas Zehetmair notes, both touching and warm-hearted. These three pieces – the Beethoven, Bruckner and Holliger quartets – were recorded in Zurich 2010. The Hartmann Nr. 2 – “a large-scale nostalgic drama, full of wisdom” – was recorded in 2002 by an earlier quartet line-up, and this interpretation is previously unreleased. It was the last of the Zehetmair Quartett recordings to feature cellist and founding member Françoise Groben (1965- 2011). “Her energy and creativity were crucial to our development an early successes. This new production is dedicated to her memory.”