BUDAPEST QUARTET: GRIEG: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 27; SIBELIUS: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56 “Voces intimae” – Budapest String Quartet – Pristine Audio PACM 126 (61:15) [www.pristineclassical.com] ****
Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer Mark Obert-Thorn here resuscitates a prior release of the 1933 Sibelius String Quartet recording from Berlin and the 1937 Grieg String Quartet from London by the Budapest String Quartet that appeared on the Biddulph label in 1994. In his original liner notes for Biddulph, Tully Potter wrote that he considered the Grieg Quartet as among the twenty-five best string quartet recordings. Given the inaccessibility of the Biddulph label and the improvements in audio restoration technology, Mark Obert-Thorn, as part of his extensive restoration of the pre-war documents by the Budapest Quartet, here makes available the two Scandinavian works the ensemble recorded that set a high mark for future emulation.
Jean Sibelius
Violinist Joseph Roisman and cellist Mischa Schneider, in dialogue, open the five-movement Sibelius Quartet (1909), Andante, – Allegro molto moderato, music of chromatic intensity expressed in brief, agitated phrases. Both the structure and the consistent, introspective yearning mood of the work suggest that Sibelius may have been examining late Beethoven quartets. The deep resonance of the large, block chords may even derive from organ literature. Immediately, Vivace, the scurrying second movement in A major enters, its quickly nervous motion reminiscent at once of Mendelssohn and the contemporaneous Third Symphony by Sibelius of 1907.
The broad Adagio di molto movement forms the natural fulcrum for the entire work, in which Sibelius inscribed the motto Voces intimae over a group of three chords, pianissimo. Each of the quartet members has a solo moment with the swaying motto theme, only blend into a solemn, expressive progression in the “pastoral” mode of F major. At this point in the evolution of the Budapest ensemble, Boris Kroyt had replaced the Hungarian István Ipolyi at the viola part. The fourth movement, Allegretto (ma pesante), introduces a light scherzo movement, rather busy in its syncopations, the thematic kernels derived from impulses in movement one. The passing dissonances become quite acute, only to resolve in the concertante first violin part’s sharing a “fate” motif with its fellows. The last movement, Allegro, takes its motivation from folk, fiddle music again passing the short riffs among the four instruments. Some of the filigree reminds one of the opening, early, cadenza-like solo from the Violin Concerto, before a concerted procession of shimmering chords erupts, sotto voce, from the ensemble. These figures will gather increasing momentum, sempre più energico, in a manner Sibelius himself characterized as “irresistible.”
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg composed his influential String Quartet in G Minor in 1877, blatantly claiming that it “strives towards breadth, soaring flight and above all resonance for the instruments for which it is written.” The expansive first movement, Un poco andante – Allegro molto e agitato, already utilizes a degree of double-stopped figures that motivated critics to claim the piece would be better served as a piano or string quintet. Typical of Grieg’s style, outbursts of passionate intensity lead to contrasting moments of reflective meditation. When playing in unison passages, the Budapest effect a “symphonic” sonority that quicky finds a contrast in thinly textured, intimate gestures. The development has a manic, village-ensemble, rustic character, building up to a climax that itself yields to pastoral introspection. The interplay between Ipolyi’s viola and Mischa Schneider’s cello invoke harmonies of a decidedly “antique” character. Hushed rustlings suddenly appear, supporting a plaintive melody of lonely reflection that surges forward to a decisive coda.
The second movement, Romanza: Andantino – Allegro agitato, offers that lyric melancholy and sense of consolation that mark much of the composer’s piano music. A new impulse appears over pizzicato and strummed chords, led by the first violin. The angst-ridden darkness soon subsides into small sequences that find solace in an extended, folkish melody and its balletic ornamentation. The angular, sizzling figures strike out again but relent or yield to the consoling figures, now played in muted, soft tones. Grieg marks the ternary third movement Intermezzo – Alteso molto marcato – and, curiously, only this movement received a late LP incarnation on a CBS disc of encores (ML 5116). The tenor of this music seems evasive, at least until its Trio section, clearly a folk idiom with solid stresses, much in the mode of music for Peer Gynt and Norwegian Dances.
The last movement, Finale: Lento – Presto al saltarello, begins rather solemnly, only to transform into a spirited, Italian dance of striking energies. Grieg’s deliberate use of passing dissonances adds a spiky heat to the dazzling, virtuoso character of the music, and the Budapest Quartet realizes the attacks and rhythmic niceties with flawless ease of musical transition. The combination of rhythmic dexterity and stylistic wit conspire to create a performance that, for want of more adequate verbiage, serves as an archetype of tis kind. Kudos to Mark Obert-Thorn for a re-mastered sound document that belies its age at every turn.
—Gary Lemco
