Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E Flat Major '1823' & String Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 44 No. 3

Album review

The Consone Quartet performs on instruments with period strings and bows, and violinist Agata Daraškaitė likens the resulting texture to that of analog photographs. The group's readings are well calibrated to the sound, producing some unusually gutsy (wordplay intended) Mendelssohn performances. Sample the second-movement Scherzo of the String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 44, No. 3, for an idea of the sound. The entire performance of this quartet will satisfy those who object to the 19th century image of Mendelssohn as a fragile figure; it is unusually Beethovenian. Perhaps even stronger is the performance of the early String Quartet in E flat major, written in 1823 when Mendelssohn was 14. The Consone Quartet catches the flashes of the mature Mendelssohn that emerge from this highly competent Mozartian exercise quite effectively. Sample the Minuetto third movement, where the relationship of the central Trio section is unlike anything that would have been done during the Classical period. The quartet offers a lively reading of this quartet that can sound scholastic in the wrong hands. With the Linn label's engineers delivering excellent sound from the Yehudi Menuhin School, this is a top-notch Mendelssohn release, marking the Consone Quartet's debut recording on that label.

© James Manheim /TiVo