Customer Reviews

Schubert: String Quartet No. 15, d. 887 / Mozart: Adagio & Fugue in C, K. 546

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

 

 

Schubert's last string quartet is either burdened or liberated by the "heavenly length" that Schumann praised in the Ninth Symphony. If you're new to the work, listening to it requires some patience, especially if your idea of Schubert's quartet style comes from familiarity with his concise, closely argued "Death and the Maiden" Quartet. But if you live with the Quartet No. 15 for a while, you come to appreciate it as representative of the epic scope and grandeur of Schubert's late style. It's also a fascinating example of Schubert's typical harmonic restlessness; the last movement often turns from a major to a minor key as quickly as you would turn on a light.

The current performance benefits from some of the risk taking that musicians engage in when performing live. No effects are unduly exaggerated, but there is a special expressiveness that comes with playing for an appreciative audience. Other performances are perhaps more refined; I recall hearing ones by the Tokyo Quartet and Quartetto Italiano that were models of refinement though lacking the ardor displayed on this Sony disc.

There are some outsized musical personalities among the players here, and it is certainly a tribute to their musicianship that in this performance they bridle individuality to the extent that excellent ensemble playing is never in question.

The sound itself is good despite the fact that extraneous noises, from audience and players themselves, occasionally intrude. And the Mozart is a nice bonus; originally written for, I believe, a musical clock, it works quite well in string quartet arrangement and is given a robust performance here. Very recommendable.

Much as I admire Yo-Yo Ma's chamber music recordings, this one is like a cactus stripped f thorns. I can't help but wonder how familiar the five-star reviewers actually are with Schubert's last quartet, no. 15 in G major. Its long, problematic expanse, with a first movement alone that unfolds for 20 min., with much wandering from major to minor and aggressive dotted rhythms, needs a special peformance. Here it gets a polished one that unduly smooths out much of what makes the work both a tough listen and a great original. Ma and friends don't really rise to the challenge of making this elusive music, full of instability, angst and nervous energy, along with ghostly sonorities and questioning ideas, seem like a masterpiece.

The first movement is especially homogenous and drawn out to 23 min., allowing the structure to collapse and the various events to wander aimlessly. The Andante is spiritless; one begins to wonder if four strong-minded soloists aren't bending over backward not to step on each other's toes. The Scherzo, which is the work's least eccentric movement, comes off lightly when Schubert intended something more forceful and a bit strange. Generally the finale is considered the queerest and yet most riveting of the four, a tarantella in 6/8 time that bounces major and minor episodes like balls in a bingo machine. But the overall propulsive rhythm is easy to catch; if only this performance didn't tiptoe around so softly, nimble as they are.

For listeners who question if a famous and talented ensemble could be as far off the mark as I contend, try the classic Busch Qt. reading from 1938 (refurbished by EMI in quite acceptable, clean-sounding mono) and the incomparable Alban Berg Qt., also on EMI, in one of their greatest recordings. On a lower plane but quite good are accounts by the Quartetto Italiano and the Guarneris.

There are string quartets who go by a name and develop a reputation and following for certain composers and bravo to them. This particular groups of four string players elect to focus on music from all music periods, styles, and times and they simply sit and play for us. In names they are Gidon Kremer and Daniel Phillips, violins, Kim Kashkashian, viola, and Yo-Yo Ma, cello. The sound and interplay they achieve are of the first order - each of these artists is a fine soloist and yet when playing together it is as though each is nameless: music first, name last.

The performances on this particular recital feel as though they were selected for a private drawing room, much like the tradition of the past centuries. The begin with Mozart's sublime 'Adagio and Fugue for string quartet in C minor, K. 546 - a work we often hear in the orchestral version in chamber orchestra concerts. The playing is elegant and the intercommunication and phrasing is as fine as it gets. The recital is completed with Schubert's final quartet #15 (of note, this same group has a recording of the Shostakovich final quartet #15 coupled with Sofia Gubaidulina's 'Rejoice'). For some this may not be the passionate Schubert as performed by others, but for this listener hearing the Schubert played so transparently allows all of the writing to be appreciated for the beauty of the work. Nothing is compromised for effect - the piece simply sings. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, June 11

This great work by Schubert is given an unusually tepid performance here. First off, the sonics are terrible and have the cello so far back that it is barely noticeable and so the all-important tremolando on the cello near the beginning of the first movement is negligible. Second, the performers seem to be performning as if someone said to be quiet the whole time: I like mellow performances (listen to the Chilingirian Qt. play Schubert) but I kept turning the volume up and it still sounded too quiet. Third, the playing just seems tentative, as if each member was waiting for the other to take the initiative. Considering the caliber of individual musicianship, this was very surprising and a real disappointment. (By the way, when Ma plays with the Cleveland Qt. in Schubert's String Quintet in C, the result is quite fantastic.) I think that in the case of this Quartet #15, they just didn't click and the recording engineers didn't help either. For a better recording, in addition to the Chilingirians (on Nimbus), the Quartetto Italiano (on Philips) is superb as are the Lindsays (on ASV). Although highly regarded, I would avoid the Alban Berg Quartet version (on EMI) as slightly abrasive in upper registers.

Schubert's last String Quartet is one of the most beautiful quartets of all periods. Is a long work always with the dichotomy of Major/Minor. The first chord is a long G major that is suddenly transformed in a G minor chord. This clear/obscure is found in all the four movements.All the last works of Schubert are full of this dichotomy ( The B flat Sonata for piano, the String Quintet, etc)maybe one presage of his death. The tragedy of Schubert is, maybe, the worst of all tragedy in the music history .
This recording is really exceptional . One rare execution that includes the repetition of the first movement, is a live performance. Maybe, because of this, the intensity is impressionable. Kremer loves Schubert's music, and he invited for this occasion exceptional musicians . The execution is full of agreeable surprises. One example is the celo solo in the Trio of the Scherzo.The group isn't a stable quartet . but this is maybe a vantage . There are exceptional performances of this work as the recordings of the Italiano and the Melos quartets. But this one is really special.
By the way as a bonus we have one Prelude and Fugue by Mozart, originally written for string orchestra. It is too a good performance. But the reason for hear this recording is the Schubert.

Look no further for the best. This CD was highly recommended on the rec.music.classical newsgroup a while back. You won't be disappointed.