Takacs Assad Labro

Album review

The repertory of the Takács Quartet tends toward mainstream string quartet repertory, with a few 20th century works. This release marks a new departure for the group, involving collaborations with not just one but two musicians from outside the classical chamber music universe, bandoneonist Julien Labro and pianist-vocalist Clarice Assad. Some of the music was composed expressly for this project by Assad and by the rock-to-classical crossover figure Bryce Dessner, whose Circles comes first and leads the listener into a fascinating realm. The compositional rudder seems to be held by Assad, who strikes a Latin mood that ebbs and flows, but the sound is often defined by Labro, who skillfully exploits the contrast between the bandoneon and the texture of the strings in the Dessner piece and in the concluding Clash, from Assad's pen. The rest of the program ranges from Milton Nascimento to Kaija Saariaho; it may not seem to fit together, but it does, in quite a profound way. The musicians seem to propose an unusual repertory model in which Latin and Romance sounds stand at the center, and the music expands from there. An important contributor to the package is the sound, recorded at a location not identified in the booklet; producer and engineer Bob Attiyeh captures all the shades of keyboard texture here and helps bring them together into a whole. A unique and wonderful release.

© James Manheim /TiVo