There’s little doubt
who is the selling point on this new
Onyx disc of the Schubert Octet.
Of course, the idea
of a star performer getting a group
of hand-picked friends together for
chamber recordings is not new – Gidon
Kremer, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma - it’s
been happening for years. What one hopes
will lift the ensuing performance above
the norm is, I guess, the feeling that
we have playing of exceptional insight,
individuality and quality. There are
hints of that here, but the positives
are outweighed, for me, by too many
negatives.
On the up side, Mullova
herself has a silky smooth tone and
is matched by an excellent clarinettist
and horn player. I fact, it’s difficult
to fault individual playing and they
obviously enjoy working together, so
you have immaculate intonation and some
really energetic attacking of phrases.
This fieriness proves also to be a distinct
disadvantage. Where on earth is the
rustic charm and warmth in a piece that
was intended as a counterpart to Beethoven’s
equally charming Septet? One
gets the feeling right from bar one
that Mullova’s cool, detached manner
is overriding everything and obviously
influencing her partners. The phrasing
is rather clipped and pinched, as if
the longer line were to be sacrificed
for rhythmic energy. This is fine as
far as it goes, but take the glorious
adagio, where Pascal Moraguès’
eloquent solo emerges in the end as
rather perfunctory, the lyricism offset
by matter-of-fact accompaniment. Equally,
the long variation movement is faultlessly
played but fatally lacking in any sort
of geniality or grace; at least to these
ears.
Perhaps I’m too influenced
by my benchmark, the wonderful Vienna
Octet on super-budget Decca Eclipse.
This is playing literally to the manner
born and their 1990 recording, which
includes an interesting filler in the
youthful Minuet and Finale D.72, has
long been a firm recommendation. It’s
the only one I’ve ever known and I’ve
been spoilt by the ensemble’s winning
blend of joyous vitality and engaging
charm, elements in short supply on the
new disc. The recording is also superior,
the glowing acoustic of Vienna’s Konzerthaus
beautifully captured by Christopher
Raeburn and far preferable to the closer,
drier Onyx recording.
In the end, we can
only guide readers and give our personal
opinion, but I would echo Gramophone
magazine when they concluded that the
1990 Vienna Octet disc is ‘at this price,
in a class of its own ... and an unmissable
bargain’.
Tony Haywood
Visit
the ONYX Catalogue
Mullova Ensemble: Viktoria Mullova, Adrian
Chamorro (violins); Erich Krüger (viola),
Manuel Fischer-Dieskau (cello); Klaus Stoll (double
bass), Pascal Moraguès (clarinet); Marco
Postinghel (bassoon), Guido Corti (horn) 
