The Alban Berg Quartet started releasing live recordings after the acclaim
they received for their performance with pianist Philippe Entremont of
Schumann's Piano Quintet in Carnegie Hall in 1985. Full of vibrant energy
and deeply felt expression, these 1990s performances go up against a classic
studio recording the quartet made in the 1980s (
review). If, like Michael Cookson, you felt that
this older recording focussed "on control and refinement occasionally at the
expense of the passionate expression and great reserves of power that . is
paramount in these works", then the boldness of these live recordings will
complement and perhaps even surpass that previous release.
The intensity of the first movement of the
Death and the Maiden
quartet pushes to extremes which will have you on the edge of your seat, the
drama being driven by an unshakeable forward momentum and a feel of anguish
which will stick in your mind for long time. The gorgeous
Andante con
moto second movement is also played for every ounce of expression,
projecting with dynamic variety but also with that hushed electricity which
makes the music's simplicity so charged with expectation. The
Scherzo threatens to deform those instruments with the pressure in
that way which makes quartets so compelling, and the galloping final
Presto is a genuine thrill.
The more abstract
Tenth Quartet is a perfect foil for the drama
and passions of the preceding
D 810 on CD 1, and the Alban Berg
players tone down their touch accordingly, though not holding back on the
crackling inventiveness and general sense of surprising worldliness
surrounding this youthful work. Composed in just a few days, the remarkable
symphonic scale of the
Fifteenth Quartet demands a pacing and
awareness of structure and narrative which the Alban Berg Quartet has by the
bucket-load. At over 20 minutes including repeats the first movement has a
Brucknerian sense of space and development; and with a keen ear for detail
and dramatic shape this is a performance which keeps us on our toes from
beginning to end. By way of reference I pulled out the complete Schubert set
by Quatuor Sine Nomine on Cascavelle (
review). This is also very good, but the Alban Berg
Quartet has the edge throughout in the way that they generate greater
degrees of expectation through poetry, and heightened suspense through
constant surprise and variation. The vocal nature of the playing in the
second movement can make one think of a distant barbershop choir at times,
and this is string quartet at its most communicative, making the hairs stand
up all over the place. The
Scherzo is again suspenseful and
exciting, the final
Allegro assai not without its moments of wit,
but equally rich in darker shades. This is Schubert in between worlds -
gazing into the deeper questions of life and existence, while still glancing
back at the vibrancy of bustling life in Vienna. The programme is concluded
with the isolated
Quartettsatz, an elegant and surprisingly
wide-ranging movement with plenty of that hushed intensity which the Alban
Berg Quartet does so well.
You may already have Schubert's string quartets in your collection, but
these live performances by the Alban Berg Quartet of the late quartets are
really an experience not to be missed. They may push beyond comfort at
times, but who ever said these works were 'comfortable'? There are other
great recordings around, but these live performances are set to confound
most studio standards.
Dominy Clements
