Customer Reviews

Elliott Carter: The Four String Quartets / Duo for Violin & Piano - The Juilliard String Quartet / Christopher Oldfather

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thus recording of Carter's first four quartets presents the music with warmth, clarity, and electricity. In 1991 I attended the release concert at Alice Tully Hall in New York, where the Julliards played all four quartets. It is a prodigious feat for any ensemble to play nearly two hours of dense, intricate, and technically challenging music such as this, but the intensity of their engagement never wavered, and the depth of their understanding was always evident. These characteristics are equally present in these recordings. Even the notorious Third Quartet, whose conflicting time streams makes coordination between players a transcendent business, manages to project a mercurial drammaturgy in Julliard's hands. This is a rare example of a technically virtuostic ensemble who, nevertheless, are devoted to projecting Carter's expressive language. These recordings are vastly superior to those by the Arditti Quartet, which sound stale by comparison. A notable distinction between the Julliard's rendition of the Third Quartet and those of the Composers Quartet and the aforementioned Arditti is that Julliard is the only group which did not employ a prerecorded click track to guide their performance. The others, either as a circumstance of time constraints in the recording process or sheer technical difficulty needed such a "crutch."

Robert Mann, the founding member of the Julliard Quartet and firt violinist, was well into his seventies when these recordings were made. His technical skills had not diminished - rhythm, intonation, and bowing are all first rate. More importantly the depth of experience and his long association with Carter were effectively transmitted to the other performers, and are manifested throughout the recording. While the performance of the Duo for violin and piano is excessively harsh and monotone (one should seek out Irvine Arditti and Ursula Oppens' far superior release on Montaigne from 1999), the Quartets ring with clarity and warmth; an unusual but welcome achievement for music that is often presented as abrasive and undifferentiated.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no one recording cycle that completely satisfies. However, I'd have to give the nod to the Arditti Quartet if for no other reason than this Julliard recording contains a vastly inferior interpretation of the 1st Quartet. Since that work is the key to getting inside of Elliott Carter's sound world ( I suppose one could argue for the Cello Sonata or Etudes for Woodwind Quartet ), it is crucial that a newcomer be introduced to a recording that does that particular piece justice. This is not the recording to do it. Coming from my experience with the Arditti and Composers Quartet versions, the 1993 Julliard is taken at too slow a tempo; the music seems bloated or bogged down and loses my attention. I'm not saying a newcomer couldn't possibly enjoy the performance; I just think the Arditti presents the music in a far better light. And I WOULD be surprised if those with prior experience with Carter prefer the 1994 Julliard interpretation of the 1st Quartet over the others previously recorded.

The Julliard's 2nd and 3rd Quartets are much more to my liking. However, they are completely blown away by their prior ( LP ) recordings of the same works in 1974 ( world premiere for the 3rd ), which are electrifying! I hope SONY considers releasing those recordings on CD at some point in the future.

RE the 4th; I've never warmed to this piece so I can't really say which ensemble takes pride of place. The Julliard haven't included the 5th Quartet ( 1995 ) since these sessions took place prior to Carter's completion of that work. The Arditti HAVE recorded it (Montaigne), making theirs the only complete cycle of Carter quartets available. Their 2nd & 3rd, although differing quite a bit in approach, don't seem MORE convincing than the 1993 Julliard ( the 1974 Julliard is, as I've implied, a world apart ).

Elliott Carter, for me, has composed the finest string quartet cycle since Bartok ( Brian Ferneyhough may be the next link in the "quartet chain" ). I urge people with a love for adventurous, well structured and moving music to check ALL of his work out. Currently 91 years old, he's certainly one of the most consistent composers in terms of the sheer quality of invention displayed piece after piece for the last half century. Nearly every one of his works since 1950 is either of ground-breaking importance ( Quartets, Double Concerto, Night Fantasies, Symphonia ) or at least of great interest ( Variations for Orch, A Mirror on Which to Dwell, Brass Quintet, numerous solo pieces ). I'd recommend starting with the Piano or Cello Sonatas ( mid/late 1940's ) if you still don't feel comfortable with composers working in a "serial" or quasi-serial vein but like Bartok and Stravinsky ( c. 1910-1930 ).

The Juilliard Quartet, with the supervision of Carter himself, recorded this version of the Four Quartets in 1991, only a few years after the Arditti Quartet had recorded them for Etcetera after touring with Carter. What a contrast!

The JQ performs these modernist masterpieces with a muscular, machine-like relentlessness, highlighting the structure. Their interpretation is masculine, in the traditional meaning of the word, while the AQ's interpretation is more lyrical and fluid, with broader vibrato, emphasizing feeling -- in a word, more traditionally feminine. If I had to choose one, I would take the Arditti performance, (and I agree that the JQ's tempo on the First is too slow) but they are both stellar. However, there are other considerations. The recording quality of the Juilliard Quartet on Sony is magnificent, while the AQ on Etcetera is much less crisp and clear. And the JQ/Sony package is all you could ask for, with a 28-page booklet extensively explaining the works, even diagramming the notoriously complex Third Quartet.

I would hate to have to choose -- I heartily recommend both versions. But the JQ version, all things considered, has the best claim to being the "standard." You must hear it!

I listened to this disc for the umpteenth time last night--this time to the 2d Quartet. Each of the four is so engrossing. The quartets are probably Carter's most difficult compositions, lacking some of the sonic lusciousness of the orchestral works, for instance, but making up for it in dramatic intensity. Carter seems to have used the string quartet as a labratory for working out new ideas. Once the listener processes the overall form, and begins to understand what Carter was doing, these quartets linger in the mind like unfinished but important thoughts. They can be listened to in at least a couple of different ways: by trying to hear the four instruments distinctly, since they're all doing different things, or by stepping back in the mind and hearing the overall whole. Each quartet becomes an adventure into conceptual and experiential problems, with solutions tried out but not dogmatically proclaimed. In the 2d Quartet, for instance, the problem of four individual voices, each with its own temperament, coming together, is tried out. The results are often contentious, and persuasion becomes imperative. By the by, the Duo for Violin and Piano, also on this disc, is an incredibly innovative work, brilliantly played by Robert Mann (I have about five versions--this is the best). Let's hear it for the Julliard Quartet for tackling this music. The Arditti come at it from extensive experience in the modern repetoire, while the Julliard have more experience in the 19th-Century (Beethoven, for instance). Each brings different insights to these works, but their technical skill should be unquestioned.

I stand somewhere in the center of all these reviews,it depends on what one expects to find in these Quartets, their "Visibility" factor. The First Quartet unquestionably broke vast amounts of conceptual ground in its originality and almost monumental in posture.The fast continuous treble,violin lines approaching utter madness although from a vastly different perspective than the European sensibility was music never heard before. Perhaps the last movement of Carter's "Piano Sonata" was a glimpse at this world. From that perspective the Juilliard here,especially with Krosnick's thick brooding cello timbre,gives/renders great weight to this First Quartet(1951),where de Sarem of Arditti has more a quicksilver,brighter,more wistful sound,not intending to blend with his brethren. To strike a judgemental posture the Arditti had recorded the Quartets during their first arduous backbreaking tour of the United States in 1988,with Carter,so I agree there is an opaqueness,a confused demeanor to their reading dating back to those times. But not any less compelling or fascinating,for their ferocious technique coerces them to transcend their lack of understadning through simply living with the work, there is no substitute for that. The Juilliard had lived longer with these works.

Juilliard here however reveals their sense of ultimate abandoned abstractedness in the Second Quartet(1959), a work which initially struck me as predating the First in gesture,scope and content. It is much more sparce,even dismal and bleak than the First Quartet without the overbearing weight and questioning violently spirit of the First. Juilliard I believe here understands this of the Second,however I'd like to hear Arditti play the Second today,with their penchant for independent role playing,violence and not afraid of making a noise,playing with guts unreservedly,for the independence of lines was an integral component of Carter's agenda here.

The Third leaves the First and Second in the dust, well some 20 years elapsed 1971,the date of the Third. And with Juilliard they turn the scope of this mind-boggling work apporaching symphonic shape with again, their large gestures always aimed at a traditional blending of timbres. Whereas Arditti would allow the shape of a timbre in the Third Quartet to expose itself.

This is not music for the background. This is music to concentrate on, to absorb carefully, and to ponder. It is challenging to hear, but the effort reveals great depth and breadth. While it may sound dry and intellectual, this music arouses strong emotions in me, often several at once. I love string quartets, and these are some of the greatest of the 20th century, along with those of Bartok. The Duo provides a pleasant (yet dissonant) contrast, and the playing is precise. I look forward to hearing more of Carter's work.

Juilliard was well known in its prime as a promoter of new music, so I don't feel that their lineage is that different from the Arditti's other than the Arditti's are more exclusive to contemporary music. And, in their prime, their technical address was also superb and "unquestionable". The problem is that these recordings are well past their prime and it shows, particularly from Mann. I wish it weren't true, but it is.

Those curious show also know that Carter completed a Fifth quartet and it is a real stunner, much better than the bland 4th. The Arditti's recorded that as well and I urge you to seek it out (Disques Montaigne).

These new recordings from the Juilliard lack the spark that they used to bring to this music, perhaps because Mann (first violinist) was about to retire, and it shows. The Arditti's reign supreme in this repetoire, making this set an also-ran.

The music is a brilliant, excellent investigation into one of the 20th century's new aesthetics in music. This cd also features a virtuoso interpretation & fine recording.

I think two Pulitzer Prizes (Second and Third quartets) speak for themselves. Carter's ever-challenging language requires a lot from the listener and a whole lot from the performer. Even harder than the execution of these works is the necessity to say something more profound than notation. The Juilliard Quartet is the perfect ensemble to do just that. Their long personal relationship with the works and almost effortless attention to the text make for an extraordinary result. This recording, aside from its historical significance, is a must-have for fans of highly-intense music-making and the great composers of our time and country.