The Franz Schubert Quartet of Vienna was active in the Nimbus
studios in the 1990s recording music from its home town. This
coupling of Rezniček and Korngold was unique; indeed still
is. Not only is the programming exploratory, it also presents
two quartets written almost contemporaneously, but by two very
different composers of differing generations.
Korngold’s First Quartet in A major, which he began to sketch
at Christmas 1920, very soon after having completed Die tote
Stadt, wasn’t finished however until early 1923. It’s a
remarkable work in many ways, the longest of the three that
he was to write, and notable for its unsettled chromaticism
and refulgent lyric impulse. Korngold’s acute ear for tension
and contrast ensures that the slow movement’s generosity of
feeling is not wholly untroubled but this Adagio, quasi Fantasia
is a hothouse of beauty nonetheless. The Intermezzo is a panache-filled
affair but also marked mit Grazie. For the finale he
employs his own motto theme (‘The Motif of the cheerful heart’)
and seemingly effortlessly vocalised phrases that are profuse
in their attractiveness.
The Franz Schubert is consistently slower than the recent recording
made by the Doric, on Chandos. They also prefer a more heated
tonal response, and a deeper and more consistently expressive
vibrato. Their unisons are strong and powerful as a result,
though it means that the playing can sound a touch generically
expressive from time to time. The Doric play with great refinement
and energy, and are lighter tonally and more incisive rhythmically.
The best performance of the quartet I’ve heard, however, more
incisive than either, comes from the Aron Quartet on CPO 777436-2
[a 2 CD set of all three quartets which also includes the Piano
Quintet].
The Korngold was premiered by Vienna’s leading quartet, the
Rosé. Rezniček’s was dedicated to, and probably premiered
by, the Klingler, another elite group of its time. The ethos
here is late nineteenth century, strong, modal, confidently
written. Like Korngold, Rezniček was a highly gifted lyricist
as the slow movement demonstrates, though his work, though often
urgent, lacks the younger man’s sense of quicksilver, often
elusive, centre of gravity. The charming, gracious scherzo –
it’s not called a scherzo, but is one, in effect – pays court
subtly to the Viennese waltz whilst the finale, which opens
intensely, offers a highly satisfactory end to a well constructed
work.
It too is played with rich, burnished tone and a rhythmic relaxation
which strikes me as a touch more appropriate than in the Korngold.
Jonathan Woolf
see also review
by Nick Barnard
Franz Schubert Quartet of Vienna 
