Louis Spohr’s string quartets combined the Classical finesse of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven with the early Romantic innovations of the Quatuor brilliant, in which the virtuosic first violin enjoys particular prominence. Popular with contemporary audiences and influential during the first half of the 19th century, these suavely imaginative chamber works are now once more becoming appreciated for their originality, emotional light and shade, and historical importance. This volume features the Moscow Philharmonic Concertino Quartet, which also plays on Volumes 10 (8.225306) and 11 (8.225307).