The distinguished quartet,
the Lindsays, have recently announced
that they plan to retire in the summer
of 2005. The Lindsays’ management state
that, "having devoted the greater
part of their professional lives to
the Quartet, the members of the Lindsays
now wish to explore other avenues and
take on new musical challenges. Each
member intends to continue a career
in performing and teaching." Their
retirement is sad news but they leave
behind a legacy of many wonderful recordings.
The Lindsays were formed
at the Royal Academy of Music and take
their name from Lord Lindsay, Vice-Chancellor
of Keele University where the Quartet
was first resident. After six years
at Sheffield University they became
Quartet-in-Residence at Manchester University.
Led by the enthusiastic
and often animated Peter Cropper, they
have been securely established as one
of the world’s foremost string quartets
for some years. Their interpretations
are rooted in the European tradition
of great quartet-playing that was handed
down by ensembles such as the Busch
and Vegh Quartets. The intensity, spontaneity
and communicative power of the Lindsays'
performances have made them favourites
with audiences throughout the world.
The Lindsay members
use a remarkable set of instruments.
We are informed that Peter Cropper plays
a Stradivarius from the ‘Golden Period’,
Robin Ireland plays an Amati viola c.1630,
while Ronald Birks and Bernard Gregor-Smith
are fortunate to be loaned the ‘Campo
Selice’ Stradivarius of 1694 and a Ruggieri
cello of the same year.
Recording exclusively for Sanctuary
Classics, the Lindsays’ extensive discography
includes complete cycles of Beethoven
and Bartók, and a series devoted
to Haydn, Schubert and to 'The Bohemians'.
In 1984 they received the Gramophone
Award for their recording of the Beethoven
‘Late’ Quartets. As an enthusiast of
the Lindsays, I have long admired their
special affinity for the string quartets
of Schubert. This four disc box set
from Sanctuary Classics on their Resonance
label uses previously released material
and proves a fitting tribute to the
ensemble’s art.
The first work in the
set is the famous String Quintet
in C major. Described as, "as
one of the most pessimistic documents
in all chamber music." Schubert
wrote the score in 1828 for the unusual
combination two violins, viola and two
cellos. In this heartbreaking score
the Lindsays, with the service of additional
cellist Douglas Cummings, offer an intense
account that gives a realistic sense
of a live performance. As much as I
enjoyed this interpretation the superbly
refined and highly moving version by
the Alban Berg Quartet with Heinrich
Schiff on EMI Classics 5 66890 2 from
1982 must remain my first choice.
The celebrated String
Quartet No. 14 in D minor ‘Death and
the Maiden’ is a fierce work with
the theme of death at its heart. Dating
from 1824, the quartet was published
posthumously. The title ‘Death and
the Maiden’ stems from the use of
a song which appears in the Andante.
The Lindsays perform with purpose and
utmost conviction and are particularly
effective in the theme and variations
that comprise the second movement Andante
con moto. My premier recommendation
of the ‘Death and the Maiden’ is
from the Italian Quartet on Philips
446 163-2, an account recorded in 1965
and remarkable for its sheer technical
excellence and impressive imagination.
The String Quartet
No.12 in C minor, ‘Quartettsatz’
of 1820 comes just after the famous
Quintet in A major ‘The Trout’,
op.114 and shortly before the equally
famous Symphony No.8 in B minor ’Unfinished’.
Known as the ‘Quartettsatz’ the
work is a curiosity since it consists
of a single movement. There is reason
to believe that Schubert intended this
music as a first movement to a full-length
quartet. Why the other movements were
not written has never been satisfactorily
explained. Conceived in a single ten
minute Allegro assai the ‘Quartettsatz’
is one of Schubert’s finest chamber
compositions. In a thrilling performance
the Lindsays convey the dramatic power
and wide-ranging ideas of the score.
This is my first choice version.
The String Quartet
No. 13 in A minor ‘Rosamunde’ was
the only one of Schubert’s four string
quartets to be published in his lifetime.
Composed in the shadow of a fatal illness
this brooding work from 1824 also happens
to be one of the greatest ever written.
Known as the ‘Rosamunde’, this
work reuses themes from the incidental
music to the unsuccessful play of that
name. The material serves throughout
to articulate pained memories of happier
times. The Lindsays with assurance and
sensitivity communicate the underlying
sadness in the score.
As fine as this interpretation is the
competition is extremely fierce. My
ideal account of the is the one
on period instruments from the eminent
Quatuor Mosaïques on Auvidis Astrée
E 8580 for their very special playing.
There the personality of each member
comes across so engagingly. The remarkable
and sublimely emotional second movement
Andante is played with sensitivity
and poetry and is an intensely moving
experience. Having heard 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 composed his
String Quartet No.8 in B flat major
in just eight days in 1814. Outstanding
musicianship by the Lindsays infuses
Schubert’s score which overflows with
delight and youth exuberance. I particularly
enjoyed their interpretation of the
second movement Andante sostenuto
which is the most beautiful in the
entire work. My favourite account is
that from the Kodaly Quartet on Naxos
8.555921 for their sweetness of tone
and accuracy of ensemble. Most consistent
playing with warmth and intensity.
Composed in 1826 in
only eight days the String Quartet
No.15 in G major is less well known
than its close predecessor, ‘Death
and the Maiden’ yet the work is
hardly less remarkable. Schubert biographer
R.H. Schauffler remarks on several key
features notably the forward-looking
modernity that surpasses even that of
‘Death and the Maiden’, the rhapsodic
quality of certain themes, the characteristic
variation between major and minor and
a more marked orchestral quality. The
Lindsays provide a marvellously phrased
and attractively characterful interpretation
that I found enthralling throughout.
However in this work the wonderfully
expressive account from the Italian
Quartet from 1977 on Philips 446 163-2
has few peers and is my preferred version.
This four disc box
set from Sanctuary Classics’ newly-launched,
budget-price Resonance label is superb
value. Only one of the six works would
be my preferred choice but the competition
in this repertoire is extremely intense
and I would not want to be without these
splendid accounts. The artwork is striking
for the use of a vivid orange box and
pink slipcases. The annotation is interesting
and informative however a magnifying
glass is needed to read the incomplete
recording information which uses the
smallest typescript that I have ever
seen on a CD.
This set is a wonderful
and highly appropriate testament to
the art of the Lindsays.
Michael Cookson
The Lindsays: Peter Cropper (violin); Ronald
Birks (violin); Robin Ireland (viola) all tracks
bar CD1; Roger Bigley (viola) on CD1 only; Bernard
Gregor-Smith (cello); Douglas Cummings (cello)
on CD1 only 
