Scandinavia

Album review

The Matangi Quartet's 2005 release Scandinavia has one slight problem: while two of the composers, Edvard Grieg and David Monrad Johansen, were Norwegian, the third, Julius Röntgen, was Dutch! His presence is explained by his close friendship with Grieg, and the Matangi Quartet's decision to include his attractive two-movement Quartettino in A minor as filler is barely justifiable through that connection. Grieg's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27, and Johansen's String Quartet, Op. 35, both deserve their place here, not only due to their creators' nationality but because they are solid examples of quartet writing outside the German tradition, and demonstrate the Norwegian proclivity to incorporate folk-inspired melodies in looser, more sectionalized developments than are found in Classical, motivically integrated models. But to represent Scandinavia more fairly, the ensemble might have considered a wider-ranging program of works by other Nordic composers -- why not select from the quartets by Sibelius, Nielsen, Gade, Kuhlau, Stenhammar, Sallinen, Rautavaara, among others, to offer a more truly representative program? Beyond that issue, the Matangi Quartet plays with great energy and feeling, though with a somewhat glossy sound that may be a result of overly resonant acoustics; but on the whole, this young group is in fine form on this music, and the reproduction is pleasant.
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