RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Joseph HAYDN (1732 - 1809)
String Quartet in G minor The Rider Op.74 No. 3, Hob. III: 74/3 [21:19]
Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)
String Quartet in F minor Op. 80 [28:53]
Josef SUK (1874-1935)
Meditation on the Old Czech Hymn St. Wenceslas op. 35 [6:34]
Graffe Quartet (Štĕpán Graffe (violin I), Lukáš
Bednařík (violin II), Lukáš Cybulski (viola), Michal
Hreňo (cello))
rec. Church of St John The Baptist, Vlasatice, 13-14 June, 7 November 2009.
DDD
STUDIO MATOUS MK 0807 [57:07]
One composer from each of three consecutive centuries - that seems to be the
pattern. The Brno based Graffe Quartet have thought about a satisfying playing
sequence - too short for a recital - and emulated it on disc. We have the
touchingly inventive wit of Haydn contrasted with the evolved romance of Mendelssohn
and the
In The Rider Quartet Haydn’s emotional intelligence is fully engaged
with by the Graffe players. Charm and concision are the order of the day.
The playing is supple and mercury-heeled matched with adroit tempo choices
throughout. The Largo assai positively glows in its exploration of the quietest
dynamics. Mendelssohn’s F minor quartet is his Sixth and his last. Fully
mature it sports the hallmarks of the great Mendelssohn of the Octet and the
Violin Concerto. Though the Haydn is remarkably personal and sensitive the
Mendelssohn achieves this with even greater effect. This is music the romance
of which has the capacity to move. The Graffe communicate these qualities
with considerable power especially in the Allegro assai (II) while the tender
Adagio also reaches out to the listener in eloquence and understatement. The
hooded ambivalence of the finale combines tension with the romance of the
E minor violin concerto.
Suk’s Meditation on the Old Czech Hymn - St. Wenceslas
requires and is accorded sustained concentration. It may perhaps have stood
as the unacknowledged exemplar for Barber’s Adagio - also originally
for string quartet. Vaughan Williams’ string writing in On Wenlock
Edge may also have been influenced by this superb work. There are some
wonderfully golden playing here with transcendent sounds setting off an arching
emotional charge. The cello and the viola sound at times - as at 3:37 - nothing
short of harvest aureate.
The playing is amongst the most sheerly beautiful I have heard from any string
quartet and by rights Classic FM should be playing the Suk Meditation
every day for a year. I trust that these players will soon look to record
the two quartets each by Suk and Smetana as well as other treasures from the
Czech and Slovak 20th century.
Rob Barnett
The playing is amongst the most sheerly beautiful I have heard from any string
quartet.