EMI Classics (3 CDs) 5 09656, 78:59; 70:44; 73:07 ****:
Adolf Busch (1891-1952), virtuoso violinist and chamber-ensemble conductor, founded the quartet that bore his name in 1919. The group gave its first Beethoven cycle in 1920. Having secured an imposing reputation by the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the Busch Quartet began to record the Beethoven cycle over the course of years 1932-1941. Though the fascist takeover of Germany intervened, along with the entire Quartet’s relocation to the United States, the cycle stands as a monument to classically conceived ethos, a singularity of purpose and homogeneity of sound that stands to this day. The restored sound enjoys the rich nuances of the ensemble with virtually no sonic crackle or various signs of the age of these splendid inscriptions.
The highlights of the better part of four hours’ listening to the late quartets includes the daunting thought that composer Bela Bartok used to include them as nightly bedtime reading! Busch and company take extraordinary pains with the expressive, extensive adagios in late Beethoven: producer Gaisberg and Busch decided that single takes or first takes would communicate the sense of studied spontaneity that Busch wished to preserve. Always the spirit of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony slow movement permeates these harmonic labyrinths, especially in the Op. 132. Since Busch always had a penchant for concentration and intimacy, his recording (7 October 1937) of the F Minor Quartet endures as a uniquely fevered document. No less noteworthy is the respective tonal qualities of the four instrumentalists, such as Hermann Busch’s sweet cantilena in the slow movement of Op. 127 or the studied interplay in the second violin part of the phenomenally driven Op. 95 (19-20 September 1932) Allegretto from Goesta Andreasson. The high-pitched virtuosity of the ostinati figures in Vivace of Op. 135 creates a dervish effect quite worth the price of admission. Feisty metric aplomb and furious string attacks mark the Scherzando of Op. 127, among my favorite movements for tracing the several origins of the Mahler orchestral style.
While Op. 127, Op. 131, Op. 132, and Op. 95 were recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, the Op. 130, Great Fugue, and Op. 135 were made at the Liederkranz Hall, New York, and some auditors will acknowledge a change in the acoustic. The Op. 130 (13, 16 June 1941) offers a singular vision of this massive work, and Busch often made a point to play the Great Fugue as its natural, original finale. The Finale of the Op. 130 Beethoven chose as a replacement has a rustic flavor, a pert sophistication from the Busch Quartet entirely beguiling. For posterity, however, he opted for his Busch Chamber Players (estab. 1935) to realize the polyphony in Felix Weingartner’s arrangement of the Grosse Fuge. Personally, this performance carries great weight, having been my first record (on the original 78 rpm) of Beethoven’s contrapuntal battle to his “hard-won resolution.” If I had to choose a “desert island” movement, let it be the Molto Adagio hymn from Op. 132 (7 October 1937) for venerable beauty of execution and nobility of purpose. Peerless musicianship in every note – composer and interpreters in cosmic harmony.
— Gary Lemco
