Debussy & Grieg String Quartets
Captivating performances which get right to the heart of these intensely emotional works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Claude Debussy, Edvard Grieg
Label: Simax
Magazine Review Date: 11/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 59
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: PSC1201
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
String Quartet |
Claude Debussy, Composer
Claude Debussy, Composer Vertavo Quartet |
String Quartet No. 1 |
Edvard Grieg, Composer
Edvard Grieg, Composer Vertavo Quartet |
Author: DuncanDruce
Outstanding quartet playing. The first movement of the Grieg sets the tone; a performance combining precision (ensemble, tuning and rhythmic control spot on) and imagination, with continually varied sound and sophisticated use of rubato. I was particularly impressed by the tight, agitated main theme, the sweet and tender tone of the second subject, and the rainbow colours of the ponticello tremolando in the coda. As a whole, this Grieg bears comparison with the celebrated 1937 Budapest Quartet recording (available on RCA, 4/94) in the intense yet subtle way the different emotional shades are projected. The Vertavo don’t quite match the Budapest’s nostalgic drawing-out of the phrases at the end of the second-placed Romanze, but the whole movement is equally captivating – graceful and sensuous, with sharply sinister Allegro interruptions. The finale doesn’t attempt the high-speed controlled virtuosity of the Budapest, or the Petersen Quartet’s ferocious drive (Capriccio, 1/94). Instead, at a slightly slower tempo, the group succeed in characterising very clearly each detail, each change in texture.
The Debussy is equally good. Compared with the new Kuijken version I’d just been listening to (reviewed above) with its luminous sound and classical poise, this is a freer, more hands-on interpretation. Here, too, the Vertavo find just the right style and sound for every turn of phrase. The Scherzo has magical lightness, with wonderful pizzicato, the Andante’s final bars are beautifully dreamy and hazy – real musical impressionism – and in the finale, unfailingly expressive playing brings out fully the intensely emotional character. Not to be missed!'
The Debussy is equally good. Compared with the new Kuijken version I’d just been listening to (reviewed above) with its luminous sound and classical poise, this is a freer, more hands-on interpretation. Here, too, the Vertavo find just the right style and sound for every turn of phrase. The Scherzo has magical lightness, with wonderful pizzicato, the Andante’s final bars are beautifully dreamy and hazy – real musical impressionism – and in the finale, unfailingly expressive playing brings out fully the intensely emotional character. Not to be missed!'
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