This collection of three SACDs, available separately, claims to be the first...

This collection of three SACDs, available separately, claims to be the first...

Composers have always entrusted their most intimate personal feelings to the string quartet, but Shostakovich went further: he used them to encode what he could not express openly. Increasingly bleak and despondent, his 15 quartets represent a diary of his ever more desperate, tormented existence. The three recorded here already show this development. All have eerie, shadowy Scherzo-movements, though the first quartet, written in 1938 still free of political pressure, is "spring-like" and optimistic. The second quartet, written in 1944, is more obsessive, with wilder contrasts and mood-swings; the fourth goes from pastoral calm to agonized shrieks, from lyrical melancholy to violent outbursts; its four movements all die away in hopeless desolation. Though written in 1949, Shostakovich withheld its premiere (like that of the first violin concerto, from which it quotes a theme) until after Stalin's death in 1953. The performances are most excellent. The Mandelring Quartet - the siblings Sebastian, Nanette and Bernhard Schmidt and violist Roland Glassl - plays with truly fraternal unanimity and a warm, beautiful tone of extraordinary homogeneity. The texture is rich but absolutely clear, the balance is good, though in the first quartet the melodic line is unduly favored. And the players' response to the music is strong and personal. They make the lyrical sections leisurely and deeply expressive, but are not afraid to sound rough in the abrasive ones. Contrasts of speed and dynamics are stark but not excessive, with remarkably poised, natural tempo changes; rhythms are firm and decisive, the spooky Scherzos are dances of death. This record is a valuable contribution to the Shostakovich celebrations.

Schubert’s chamber music is particularly well served in the CD catalogues at the moment and I for one am happy with the increasingly wide choice available. Naxos and Kodaly have recently finished their complete survey of the fifteen string quartets. Now we have the second volume of the intended complete survey from the German-based Mandelring Quartet.

A few months ago I reviewed a Schubert string quartet double set from the Brandis Quartet of the: A minor ‘Rosamunde’; D minor ‘Death and the Maiden’; C minor ‘Quartettsatz’ and the G major D.887 on Brilliant Classics 99288. Earlier this year I was delighted to tackle a Schubert four disc set from the Lindsay Quartet. That one comprised the: ‘Death and the Maiden’; ‘Quartettsatz’; ‘Rosamunde’ D.804; B flat D.112; G major D.887 with the C major Quintet D.956 all on Sanctuary Classics Resonance RSB 403.

The ‘Rosamunde’ Quartet was the only one of Schubert’s four string quartets published in his lifetime. Composed in 1824 in the shadow of a fatal illness this brooding work also happens to be one of the greatest ever written. Known as the ‘Rosamunde’ it reuses themes from the composer’s incidental music to the unsuccessful play; it serves throughout as an intimation of the pained memories of happier times. I admire the last movement marked allegro moderato showing as it does the composer’s wealth of invention.

In the ‘Rosamunde’ the performance from the Mandelring presents a secure ensemble yet I was often bewildered with their choice of tempos and the slight amount of passion they provided. Their opening allegro feels too measured and the tranquil andante lacks feeling and tends to lose its way. I also felt that additional vitality and intensity was needed in the third movement minuet. In the concluding allegro the Mandelrings seem reluctant to provide sufficient urgency and vigour, treating the music as if they were handling delicate porcelain. Consequently Schubert’s optimism and spirit never stands a chance of materialising.

My ideal account of the ‘Rosamunde’ is the version performed on period instruments by the eminent Quatuor Mosaïques on Auvidis Astrée E 8580. This is a compelling version noted for the quartet’s special playing where the personality of each member comes across so engagingly. The sublimely emotional second movement andante is played with remarkable sensitivity and poetry, to provide an intensely moving experience. Being familiar with the interpretation from Quatuor Mosaïques I can fully understand how influential music writer H.L. Mencken stated that this music was the proof he needed for the existence of God.

Schubert’s String Quartet No. 11 was almost certainly composed in 1816. At this time in his life Schubert had been highly influenced by his teacher Antonio Salieri. He was also indebted to the works of Mozart and Haydn, especially in the field of chamber music, which they had elevated to become a touchstone of craftsmanship, sonorous delicacy and formal proportions. It was in this context that the teenage Schubert wrote this quartet, probably composed for his family. Its technical demands were far beyond the faculties of even gifted amateurs.

The String Quartet No. 11 is a work fully conceived in Viennese classicism and demonstrates a growing self assurance. Immediate signs of greater maturity are heard in the opening of first movement marked allegro con fuoco, and the minuet combines the earthy stamping rhythm of contemporary dance with a sense of aloofness in the trio. In the final movement rondo Schubert lightheartedly alludes to the main theme of the final movement of Mozart’s Symphony in E flat major, K543 only to turn elsewhere immediately.

In the opening allegro the playing of the Mandelring is tentative although small quantities of vitality are glimpsed. The slow movement andante is given a reverential reading that provides a suitable degree of expression. They once again seem wary in the minuet. I was content with their dynamics yet unfortunately there was insufficient forward momentum. The final movement rondo is adequately performed although I would have preferred more weight.

Overall in these two Schubert string quartets the Mandelrings provide an adequate security of ensemble and their timbre is pleasing. Sadly, I experienced their playing as over-cautious, lacking the appropriate amount of vigour and exuberance, and the readings felt emotionally chilly. The annotation is acceptable and the Audite engineers have supplied an enjoyable sound.

I do not have an alternative version of the E major Quartet that I am able to recommend. However, I hear good reports of the version from the Melos Quartet on their six disc set of the complete Schubert string quartets on Deutsche Grammophon 463 151-2.

Conceivably, many people own the Kubelik set of Mahler symphonies on DG. But being a live performance, and in remastered sound, this is still an excellent introduction to Mahler's monumental Eighth Symphony. Kubelik is a reliable, no frills conductor, who will always give a balanced, thoughtful reading without extremes of temperament. You could do a lot worse than to learn Mahler from this undoubted master.

This recording also benefits from an excellent set of soloists, whose voices are clearly differentiated: an important consideration in a symphony where the singers so often sing in a group, and where clarity helps bring out the interplay of individual voices. It is also live, as most recordings of this massive symphony are, given the logistics of putting together any performance. If you’ve got the “thousand” performers together, tape them for the moment may never come again! More seriously, a symphony like this is an event in itself, and an experience so unique that it generates its own atmosphere. The sheer dynamic of coordinating such vast numbers creates a sense of occasion which further inspires the performers to give their best. Even performances where there are elements not quite up to scratch retain this feeling of immediacy. If ever there was a symphony that needs to be listened to for total impact, this is it. It’s churlish, I think, to expect utter perfection at all times, especially given the size of the forces involved. After all, the text is about the redemption of Faust and his being accepted into Heaven despite having sinned. Love transcends death, and redeems the flawed soul. Miss that, and you miss a fundamental aspect of Mahler’s entire outlook on life, replicated in different forms in the Second, the Fourth, the Ninth and Das Lied von der Erde, if not more subtly elsewhere.

The main minus with this reissue, particularly for newcomers, is the poor booklet notes. On the other hand, that’s no disqualification. Listen with your ears and soul, don’t bury your nose in the booklet. Then, learn all you can from other sources and recordings.

The opening movement, Veni, creator spiritus is particularly animated. With a powerful surge of the great organ, the symphony gets off the ground, soloists and choruses right on the mark. From an almost silent background, individual soloists rise, their voices weaving and blending together. The soloists are well chosen, as each voice is so distinctive it’s easy to track them: there’s no mistaking Fischer-Dieskau, for example, though his lines are less spectacular, perhaps, than those of the sopranos. Kubelik’s characteristic light touch is persuasive in the non vocal passages. It mirrors the surprising delicacy of the vocal writing. Other conductors can get away with darker textures, perhaps because their singers aren’t as transcendently clear as Kubelik’s.

Even the rather over-bright recording has its merits, adding to the sense of heightened spiritual illumination. This isn’t reality, it’s technicolour Heaven, where various manifestations of the Virgin Mary, Gretchen, Faust and other symbolic figures sing, watched, presumably by anchorites in caves - as described in Goethe’s original text.

Kubelik bathes the next movement with similar light. Behind the songs of the contraltos and Magna peccatrix, for example, you can hear details like plucked strings and harp. Overall, the singing is good, despite occasional strained notes pitched too ambitiously. In the penultimate chorus, the brass repeats the notes behind the words “Blicket auf !” and the sounds fade away, as if dissolving into space. Then, led by the Chorus mysticus and sopranos, themes from Veni, creator spiritus return rousingly, and in full force. Redeemed by love, Faust is transmuted into eternity and taken into Heaven . “Das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan”.

I first came across the Mandelring playing Schubert on a Naxos disc issued some...

Obwohl uralt, gilt die Harfe in unserem Konzertbetrieb fast immer noch als Exot, der das Orchester hin und wieder mit einem zusätzlichen Kolorit beschenken darf. Dass dieses Instrument dennoch Überraschendes zu sagen hat, demonstriert Sarah O’Brien auf ihrer neuen Solo-SACD. Eine schöne Mischung von Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, dem wir die erste veritable Harfensonate verdanken, bis zu einem Beitrag Heinz Holligers von 1986. Die Romantik indes bleibt ausgeklammert. Dafür kann man sich an impressionistischen Farben delektieren. Auch eine Komponistin ist dabei: Germaine Tailleferre. Sarah O’Brien, Harfenistin der Münchner Philharmoniker, spielt ausgezeichnet. Zarte, empfindsame Klänge der attraktivsten Sorte. Dem der Harfe anhaftenden Klischee der Weiblichkeit vermag die in Basel und Salzburg lehrende Interpretin naturgemäß nicht Paroli zu bieten. Aber auch so hat die Kandidatin 100 Punkte.

Le centenaire de la naissance du compositeur russe est célébré par une...

The Mandelring Quartet is formed around the members of the Schmidt family, Sebastian and Nanette, violin and Bernhardt, cello. On the present recording the violist is Michael Scheitzbach, although their violist today is Roland Grassl. The Mandelring Quartet has an extremely wide-ranging repertoire and is probably best known to CD listeners for their series on CPO of the quartets of Georges Onslow. They are also known for their close association with the composer Berthold Goldschmidt, who dedicated his fourth quartet to them. The present recording is one of three produced in 1999 in a series entitled Brahms and Contemporaries and only released recently. Each CD pairs one of Brahms’ quartets with one by a friend or associate of his. This disc features the second quartet of Friedrich Gernsheim, a friend of Brahms and one of the few composers whose music Brahms actually liked.

Gernsheim was six years younger than Brahms and occupied successively more important positions as a conductor and pedagogue in Cologne, Rotterdam, and Berlin, where he died in 1916. In all of these positions he was a strong promoter of the music of Brahms. As a composer he wrote a lot of orchestral music, including four symphonies that have been recorded as a set on Arte Nova conducted by Siegfried Kohler, as well as concertos, choral works and much chamber music. Although on the surface a minor Brahmsian character he possesses a personality of his own and a geniality that Brahms sometimes lacked. Gernsheim wrote five string quartets, of which the second, in A-minor, is recorded here. It was published in 1875 and shows some influence of the Brahms Op. 51 quartets written two years earlier.

In comparison to the Brahms quartets, the Gernsheim A-minor has both more rhythmic push and more serenity. The development in the first movement is well done, if not fascinating, and the composer shows great imagination in the use of tonal relationships. The recapitulation is ably done. The second movement is in D-flat major and again Gernsheim handles tonal relationships well. The second section of the movement and the overall development impressed me more than anything else in the entire work, especially at 6:30 through to the end of the movement. The scherzo struck me as too Brahmsian, although the trio was much more individual and another highlight of the whole work. The quasi-rondo final movement features a recap of the opening material from the first movement and strains at the bonds of the home key. It also strains at the boundaries of chamber music and almost seems to require an orchestral texture in its last minutes. In all, a work not deserving of the obscurity it has received in the last century.

The three Brahms string quartets are well-known and well-recorded, although they have not received the affection accorded some of the other Brahms chamber works such as the piano trios or the piano quintet. The Op. 51, #1 is a tightly constructed work with the opening material generating all that comes after it. At the same time the piece thrives on counterpoint, frequently to the exclusion of all else. The Mandelrings begin at too brisk a tempo for my taste, but settle down before an excellent playing of the recapitulation. They are fine in the lovely and tentative slow movement, with it’s intricate counterpoint, and continue so in the third movement, with fine work by the violist. They do best with the feverish fourth movement, sustaining the tempo, the atmosphere and the counterpoint steadily throughout the movement. This is their finest playing on the disc.

It may have been noticed that while I spoke of the performers’ playing as a whole, I hardly mentioned any solo work. This is not accidental - the Mandelring plays as such a cohesive unit that one hardly notices individual players. All are fine when called upon individually, but it is the total sound of the group that one remembers. Perhaps this is to be expected from a quartet where three of the four instrumentalists have been playing together since infancy and where all four members are devoted to playing chamber music almost exclusively. In any event, it works very well in most of the Brahms, although there were times in both composers’ quartets where I felt that the Mandelrings sacrificed tempo control for smoothness of ensemble. I would say that this is the factor the quartet most needs to address.

All three of the discs in this series were recorded as part of the Mandelring’s own Hambacher Festival in the St. Bartholomäus-Kirche in Birkweiler in the southern Rhineland. The church lends itself better to the sound of the Brahms than the Gernsheim, but the presumably live performance mikes both works much too closely. There is also some smudging of the individual lines in certain passages in the Brahms. The close ensemble sound of the Quartet is not always well served by the acoustic in the church which sometimes blunts what should be a taut sound. However, any sonic imperfections are outweighed by the chance to hear a more than interesting quartet by a friend of Brahms. I look forward to the other two recordings in this series.

In der Vorwoche standen hier Remakes von LP-Klassikern auf 180-g-schwerem Vinyl...