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Classical Album of the Week on WRTI 90.1

Every week, on the air and online, you'll hear music from new releases and favorite albums that have been carefully selected for your listening pleasure. Check out our posts for commentary from our hosts and video highlights for each Classical Album of the Week.

Classical Album of the Week: Jasper & Jupiter Quartets Play Mendelssohn, Visconti and Golijov

WRTI Your Classical and Jazz Source | By Susan Lewis

Published May 3, 2021 at 7:02 AM EDT

May 3, 2021. The Jasper String Quartet and Jupiter String Quartet combine to express joyful personal connections in chamber music with pieces composed centuries apart. Felix Mendelssohn’s masterful 1825 Octet in E flat major is joined by contemporary works by Dan Visconti and Osvaldo Golijov in our Classical Album of the Week.Complementing Mendelsson’s Octet is Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round, written in 1996 as a tribute to Astor Piazzallo, which adds a bass to the sound of the quartets. The 2011 work, Eternal Breath, by Dan Visconti, was commissioned to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of parents of some of the musicians on this album. Visconti is also artistic director of Astral in Philadelphia.

Here's Visconti's Eternal Breath, which adds an Indian shurrti box to the conventional instrumentation.

Track List:

Felix Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major (1 to 4)

Dan Visconti: Eternal Breath (5)

Osvaldo Golijov: Last Round (6, 7)

The Jasper Quartet, based in Philadelphia, works with Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians. The Jupiter Quartet is based in Urbana-Champagne, Illinois.