Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
String Quintet in C major, D956 (1828) [58:48]
Kuss Quartet (Jana Kuss (1st violin); Oliver Wille (2nd violin);
William Coleman (viola); Mikayel Hakhnazaryan (cello)); Miklós
Perényi (cello)
rec. 18-20 December 2012, Leonhard-Gläser Saal der
Siegerlandhalle, Siegen, Germany
ONYX 4119 [55:48]
This is a recording taken from a radio broadcast made by
Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne in 2012. The last foray the Kuss made into
Schubert’s music on disc was the String Quartet No. 15 in G
major coupled with the Berg String Quartet, Op. 3; their debut
release on Onyx. Recorded in 2010 at the Siemens Villa, Berlin this
Schubert/Berg recording I have played a number of times.
Musicologist David Ewen in his ‘The Complete Book of Classical
Music’ [Pub: 1965, Prentice-Hall] described the String Quintet D956 as
“as one of the most pessimistic documents all chamber music”.
The mood of dark foreboding comes as no surprise as the work was written in
1828 during the final couple of months of Schubert’s life. Just a few
days after completing the score it seems that Schubert, accompanied by his
brother and some friends, walked a considerable distance to Eisenstadt to
visit Haydn’s tomb. Schubert’s choice of instrumentation using
two violins, viola and two cellos was unusual and he may well have been
influenced by what Boccherini had done a number of decades earlier in 1771
with his opus 11 set of six string quintets.
The record catalogue contains a substantial number of recordings of
the C major Quintet and of those that I have come to know there are five
that I particularly admire. My steadfast first choice is the superbly
refined and intensely passionate account from the Alban Berg Quartet
augmented by cellist Heinrich Schiff. This was recorded in 1982 at Seon,
Switzerland on EMI Classics (5 66890 2). Next the alert and sensitive
account from the Takács Quartet assisted by the same additional
cellist Miklós Perényi recorded in 1991 at Crouch End, London
for Decca. The Lindsay Quartet with the service of
extra cellist Douglas Cummings offer an intense 1985 account that gives a
realistic sense of a live performance that has been re-issued on Sanctuary Classics Resonance. I found it hard not to be moved
by the splendidly played and expressive 2007 Berlin account from the Artemis
Quartet bolstered by the services of cellist Truls Mørk on Virgin Classics. In addition there is the
impressively played and highly passionate account by the Belcea Quartet with
cellist Valentin Erben recorded in 2009 at Potton Hall, Suffolk for EMI Classics.
I enjoyed this performance of the C major Quintet from
Kuss Quartet and Miklós Perényi. They come across as a highly
committed group playing the work with evident integrity. However, when
comparisons are done with some of the many excellent alternative accounts
the differences in performance excellence become apparent and here the Kuss
struggle. Compared to the Alban Berg with Schiff the Kuss do not display the
same level of expressive power, security of control and sheer weight of
sound. The disparity is especially marked in the massive opening movement
Allegro ma non troppo where the Kuss cannot match the Berg’s
indescribable beauty contrasted with the impressive dramatic tension. The
substantial Adagio,one of the glories of all chamber music,
although creditably done does not convey the intense depth of emotion to the
same extent. More fluidity is needed in the Scherzo and the
Finale: Allegretto is certainly not played as tidily as I had
expected. Recorded for radio broadcast in 2012 at the Leonhard-Gläser
Saal der Siegerlandhalle, Siegen the Kuss sound quality is acceptable
without being as satisfying overall as any of the competing accounts
mentioned above.
Michael Cookson
Masterwork Index: Schubert
string quintet
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