Béla Bartók: String Quartets Nos. 5 & 6

Album review

Even if you already own a set of Béla Bartók's string quartets that you consider definitive, Praga's hybrid SACD of string quartets No. 5 and No. 6 is still worth checking out for its refreshing renditions and extraordinary reproduction. The Párkányí Quartet has a fairly small discography, and the group's reputation for playing Bartók is not as firmly established as the Juilliard, Takács, or Emerson quartets. However, this committed ensemble brings remarkable physical energy and mental clarity to these focused performances of the String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, and the String Quartet No. 6, Sz. 114; and they are aided by the wonderfully clear DSD sound and the spacious multichannel recording, which give the four highly virtuosic parts distinction. The Párkányí Quartet falls short in some areas, notably in the slower than usual tempos and dynamics that are at slight variance with the scores; but these are minor issues that can be overlooked when compared to the cohesiveness of the playing and the coherence of the interpretations, which are emotionally communicative and intellectually satisfying in both works. Whether these impressive recordings replace your favorites or not, they are compelling for their remarkable presence and natural musicality, and they deserve to be heard by all admirers of Bartók's music and not just by audiophiles for their exquisite sound quality.
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