Haydn - Bartók - Mozart

Approfondimenti

The Quatuor Modigliani has been together now for 15 years, and this release provides a good opportunity for chamber music lovers to evaluate the state of their art, and the results are impressive. The group has developed a sense of ensemble well beyond the ordinary in these highly polyphonic works, with every trace of dominance of the first violin eliminated, except where the music calls for it. The players say that these quartets represent turning points in the lives of their composers. The concept doesn't entirely work -- Haydn's String Quartet in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2, was one of a set of six -- but the performances of each of these highly complex works are sensitive and distinctive. The Haydn, all fifths and octaves, is detailed, and the unusually slow second movement is pushed just about to the limit but retains a fine sense of humor. Bartók's String Quartet No. 3 clearly differentiates its almost atonal first movement from its folkish second and then traces the strands of the remainder as the composer reconciles these two tendencies. Perhaps the best of all is the Mozart String Quartet in C major, K. 465, where the Quatuor Modigliani avoids a ponderous treatment of the opening dissonant passage that gives the quartet its nickname and launches momentum that carries through the entire work. The "turning point" here is said to be the point at which Mozart mastered the lessons in counterpoint he had been absorbing from the Bach manuscripts of Baron von Swieten, and here, the concept is valid. The sound, from the Théâtre populaire Romand à la Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, is closely miked and a bit harsh, but the considerable efforts of the instrumentalists are clear, and this is an excellent anniversary release.

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