COMPOSERS: Beethoven
LABELS: Warner
ALBUM TITLE: Beethoven - String Quartets
WORKS: String Quartet in G, Op. 18/2; String Quartet in F
PERFORMER: Endellion Quartet
CATALOGUE NO: 2564 62161-2
With so many excellent recordings
of Beethoven’s quartet cycle already
available, any newcomer needs
something beyond fine playing to
attract attention. Here particular
emphasis is placed on achieving
absolute fidelity to Beethoven’s
final intentions and incorporating a
number of significant amendments
and revisions not heard elsewhere. In
addition the Endellions plan to make
their cycle totally comprehensive,
including works which have not been
recorded by other quartets.
On this disc, the big news is the
brief Allegretto in B minor, composed
in 1817 but only unearthed in 1999.
Truth to tell, however, the music is so
slight and protracted in length that it
Farewell from Lindsays
misha donat enjoys their insightful Haydn playing
hardly amounts to a major discovery.
As for the three complete quartets,
the Endellions offer technically
immaculate performances but
nowhere near the interpretative
insight that one gets from some of
the front-runners in this repertory.
That said, there is much to admire in
their elegant and energetic handling
of Op. 18 No. 2, the development
section of the first movement in
particular evoking a wealth of colours
and textural gradations.
After this, Op. 95, although
delivered with considerable power,
falls somewhat short of providing
a real sense of forward drive and
passion; and dynamic contrasts,
perhaps undermined by the dry
acoustic of Cambridge’s West Road
Concert Hall, are not quite as finely
tuned as in some other recordings,
for example the Quartetto Italiano
on Philips. Op. 135, on the other
hand, is more involving with a
particularly exciting and exuberant
Finale. Erik Levi
