Customer Reviews

Ravel: String Quartet / Sonata for Violin and Cello

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The sumptuous Ravel string quartet, one of the most popular, is played with great feeling and accuracy on this CD by the Borromeo Quartet. I first heard it on one of the public radio "telethons" and was immediately spurred to send in my contribution!! Definitely should be in the collection of anyone who enjoys beautiful, rich tone combined with great technical skill.

the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia a prestigious beginning for a string quartet, and it'w where the Borromeo was formed in 1989. As the resident faculty quartet of the New England conservatory, they have a high profile in Boston. This Ravel disc, however, their only recording in print. Having read rave reviews about the Borromeo, I was eager to hear it, even though the Ravel Quartet isn't a favorite work. This performance goes a long way to rekindling my enthusiasm. One immediately notes that the Borromeo are very different form the Emerson Qt., who have done so much to influence the tone of American string quartets. In place of streamlined, efficient interpretations that turn their back on tradition, the Borromeo are warm and relaxed. They have lovely tone and the kind of unanimity that marks the best ensembles -- four individuals playing as one but not sounding homogenized.


Besides the glow and sheen in their tone, this ensemble plays with what I'd call sober finesse. Ravel can sound cloyingly sophisticated, but not here. I've never heard a more inward performance or one less dedicated to superficial gloss. One great advantage, too, is the up-to-date recorded sound, far ahead of some old leaders of the pack like the Alban Berg Qt. and the Quartetto Italiano. The Borromeo's interpretation may be less flashy but is musically just as satisfing.

The usual filler for the Ravel is its French soul mate, the Debussy quartet, so it's refreshing that here is something far rarer, Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello. I've never seen that combination or, indeed, encountered this piece, cimposed in 1922 and dedicated to the memory of Debussy. The sonata mirrors the quartet is having four movements with a plucked-string second movement and the slow movement placed third. Ravel deploys his familiar harmonies and melodic allure in an appealing work, which is here played with the same musically satisfying style as before. Without a doubt the Borromeo's four members are beautiful players in their own right. If the recording industry were healthier, we'd be hearing a lot more form this outstanding ensemble.