Audite seem to have the knack of finding some of the best
chamber music players around and this is no less the case with the superb
Mandelring Quartet who have started a series of recordings of Mendelssohn’s complete
chamber music for strings for Audite. Volume 1 of this series has quartets in E
flat major Op 12 and in A minor Op. 13 coupled with the early unnumbered E flat
major quartet.
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The Mandelring Quartet from Germany www.mandelring.com have already recorded for Audite, receiving
high praise for their complete cycle of the Shostakovich quartets (Audite
21.411). The Mandelring Quartet’s publicity information says of the quartet
that ‘its expressivity and remarkable homogeneity of sound and phrasing have
become its distinguishing characteristics.’ Having listened to this disc I have
to say that this is no exaggeration.
It is obvious from the start of the Op.12 quartet that the
Mandelrings are alive to every nuance of this most lyrical of first movements.
There is the most wonderful precision in their playing of the delightful second
movement Canzonetta and, in the following Andante, this quartet show expressive
playing of the highest order with the most beautiful textures. Indeed, it is in
the hushed moments that the Mandelrings show the most refined sensitivity.
Their razor sharp ensemble comes to the fore again with the
infectious forward thrust of the final movement and when the theme from the
first movement reappears towards the end there is irresistible playing from
this fine quartet.
If Mendelssohn was beginning to break away from the
influence of Beethoven in the Op.12 quartet, Op.13, written earlier but only
published later, shows a much heavier influence of Beethoven. The Mandelrings
play with all the passion and lyricism needed, their weight and tone bringing
out the emotion of the music.
The second movement has the rather unusual marking ‘adagio
non lento’ which, taken literally, means ‘at ease not slow’. The Mandelrings
flexible dynamics and tempo hit the mark perfectly with great depth and
commitment to their playing.
The Mandelrings have the lightness of touch that is pure
Mendelssohn in the sparkling Intermezzo whilst in the final presto they have a
fine tautness of playing in the dramatic opening, with the return of the
opening adagio superbly judged leading to the quiet coda.
The E flat major Quartet that completes this disc is an
earlier work, written in 1823, when Mendelssohn was only 14 years of age, but
not published until 1879. This places the quartet two years before the famous
String Octet.
There is sparkling playing in the first movement showing how
the Mandelrings can bring out the lighter side of Mendelssohn whilst in the
following adagio they bring out more beauty than I thought possible from
Mendelssohn’s rather four square writing.
There is a lively, rather Mozartian, minuet to which the
Mandelrings bring great charm before the final fugue where this quartet show
again their tremendous precision clearly weaving all the lines of the music of
this contrapuntal last movement.
This is not a work to be compared with the later quartets
but in a fine performance such as this it gives much enjoyment.
The recording is first rate with real presence and detail.
Despite my particular liking of the Talich Quartet on Calliope in these works,
this new issue must go straight to the top. Highly recommended.
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