Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
The Three Prussian Quartets
String Quartet (No. 21) in D major, K575 (1789) [23:46]
String Quartet (No. 22) in B flat major, K589 (1790) [22:17]
String Quartet (No. 23) in F major, K590 (1790) [28:10]
Stradivari Quartet (Xiaoming Wang (violin); Sebastian Bohren (violin); Lech
Antonio Wyszynski (viola); Maja Weber (cello))
rec. 2015 Reformierte Kirche, Seon, Switzerland
SOLO MUSICA SM230 [74.15]
Founded in 2007 with a concert at the Zurich Tonhalle, the
Stradivari Quartet has become one of the leading Swiss chamber ensembles.
As the name of the quartet suggests the players exclusively use instruments
built by the famous luthier Antonio Stradivari all loaned by the Habisreutinger
Foundation.
In a single evening in 1770 it seems that Mozart aged only fourteen and engaged
in tour of Italy composed his first string quartet K80; a work that is really
a divertimento. In 1772/73 Mozart wrote another dozen string quartets
but his full creative facility was not yet evident. By 1782 he had become
familiar with many of Haydn’s string quartets, in particular the set
of six Russian Quartets, Op. 33. These revealed to Mozart
new and extensive artistic challenges that he set out to explore with renewed
enthusiasm. Many commentators feel that Mozart didn’t greatly improve
the form of the string quartet that Haydn had developed but he did bring a
depth of feeling that was seldom encountered in Haydn.
In 1789 aged thirty-three Mozart left Vienna for his third visit to Berlin,
accompanied by Prince Carl Lichnowsky who was his occasional pupil. At the
Prussian court of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, a committed arts patron,
commissioned Mozart to write a set of six string quartets. An ardent music-lover
and a keen cellist King Wilhelm required the set of string quartets to contain
substantial cello parts that bring out the cantabile quality of the
instrument’s high register. It seems that Mozart actually completed
only three: Nos. 21, 22 and 23 (K575, K589, K590). These became known as the
Prussian String Quartets.
Throughout this set the immaculately prepared Stradivari performs with a creditable
level of consistency even if I wanted a modicum of that rarely achieved sense
of spontaneity. The Allegros are often spirited and cheerful contrasted
with playing of a rather measured and more serious character. It feels as
if these players cherish the slow movements which evince an intimacy that
frequently communicates serenity. The graceful playing in the Menuettos
is impressive for its judicious weight and selection of tempi.
We hear admirably committed and engaging playing and I will surely play this
disc often. Nevertheless my primary recommendation goes to the 1976 recording
from the Alban
Berg Quartet for its vital and spontaneous feel and innate humanity. Originally
released on Teldec I have the Alban Berg Quartet accounts on a Warner Classics
Elatus re-issue. For those who prefer the Prussian Quartets played
on period-instruments should explore the naturally fresh, eloquent and deeply
felt accounts from Quatuor Mosaïques recorded in 1998/2002 on Auvidis Astrée.
Michael Cookson
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