BEETHOVEN: Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4; Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 with the Grosse Fugue Op. 133 – Fry Street Quartet – IsoMike

by | Dec 29, 2008 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews | 0 comments

BEETHOVEN: Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4; Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130 with the Grosse Fugue Op. 133 – Fry Street Quartet – IsoMike Multichannel (4.0) SACD FSQCD5, 71:18 ***** [www.isomike.com]:

Twenty-five years separate the composition of the two quartets on this superb SACD. Beethoven composed his String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4 (c. 1798-1800) with the quartets of Mozart and especially Haydn in mind. Young Beethoven was Haydn’s reluctant and often fractious pupil. In moments of supreme frustration with the ill-mannered antics of his young apprentice Haydn often humorously referred to him as “the great mogul”. But it was the revolutionary voice of the young composer that Haydn found especially distressing. In Beethoven’s youthful works he heard unmistakable echoes of his own inimitable Classical voice, now so altered and emotionally charged as to constitute a rebuke. It was the vision of a new era that Beethoven offered and one can hear it in this brilliant quartet.

The Opus 18 quartet features the first violin as the leading voice in the sonata movement as one would expect in a Haydn-esque work.  But the development section has the cello taking a forceful share of the melodic material, the short musical motifs are increasingly tensely coiled and violently sprung and the drama overshadows the usual ornamentation. Beethoven eschews a slow movement for two triple meter dance movements. This creates an overarching symmetry with the two duple meter outer movements framing the two inner triple meter dances. Classical structure is almost imperceptibly breaking down. The work’s minor key heightens the feeling of unease, something The Fry Street Quartet captures beautifully by varying both velocity and dynamics as the music hurtles forward with increasing urgency. There is a fierce energy in the way these musicians interpret even the most elegant passages of this troubling quartet. It is a splendid performance.

1825 saw the composition of the mighty String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130, coupled with the Grosse Fugue, Op. 133. These were Beethoven’s final years; he was now totally deaf and increasingly isolated and misunderstood. This music is strange and disturbing even today. One can only assume that these works were greeted with utter incomprehension. Sonata form in Beethoven’s hands now resembles a landscape deformed by some titanic geological upheaval. More of a suite or serenade in structure, the quartet seems simple and even banal at first as Beethoven creates music so conventional that we are nearly lulled to sleep. The second and third movements contain portions that seem almost distracted, as if Beethoven was barely interested in the proceedings. But the following movement gathers energy as it spins away into dancelike passages that are increasingly frantic and tortured. The slow fifth movement is a grave cavatina that contains music that is both lyrical and anxious as Beethoven creates a richly sonorous texture that seems orchestral in weight. This leads into the colossal Grosse Fugue which in its vehemence and fierce dissonance belongs more to the era of Stravinsky and Bartok, composers who were ardent admirers of this revolutionary music.

The Fry Street Quartet plays this difficult quartet with the proper intensity and close attention to the music’s kaleidoscopic moods and wildly variable dynamics. The Op. 130 quartet requires both maturity and fearlessness if it is to be properly played, something the members of the FSQ have grasped quickly. They are a relatively young quartet whose technique and poise have taken a quantitative leap forward in the two years since their 2005 Haydn recording which I recently reviewed.

This is a superb release in all respects. The DSD multichannel recording utilizes a unique acoustic baffle system to isolate the microphones in order to address line-of-sight interference that can compromise fidelity. Whatever the cause the sound is exceptionally clear and well-focused. The strings sound rich and warmly spread across a spacious sound field. There is a lovely bloom to the sound of the instruments that brings the music beautifully to life.

— Mike Birman

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