Engegårdkvartetten in String quartets by HAYDN (Op. 76, No. 5), SOLBERG and GRIEG – Arvid Engegård, Atle Sponberg (violins) /Jan-Erik Gustafsson (viola) /Juliet Jopling (cello) – 2L multichannel SACD 2L53, 66:45 ***** [Dist. by Qualiton]:
The enterprising Norwegian label 2L has produced another winner here. A recital as one would hear in concert: three string quartets played with fresh vitality by the Engegård Quartet.
Haydn’s quartet comes from his last forays in that medium and this work shows he had developed his style considerably over the years. Written during 1796 and 1797 and published in 1799, this one is sometimes referred to as the “Largo”. All four instruments have equal importance, the artists here displaying their ensemble in the clarity of their playing. The canons and fugues bustle along with energy, while the singing qualities in the second movement are highlighted with charm.
Grieg wrote his first quartet around 1878. There is a second unfinished quartet whose incompleteness troubled Grieg, as he wrote to Brodsky in 1895 of “that accursed string quartet which constantly lies there like an old Norwegian cheese.” The first had caused Grieg considerable difficulties, too; the Griegs had lost their daughter to meningitis in 1869, he had lost his parents and to a considerable extent the will to compose. It was in composing this G minor (Mozart’s tragic key) sonata that his creativity was rekindled and marriage saved. Its cyclic character has a relationship with Haydn included on this recording though its colours are far darker.
The Engegård Quartet’s recital has in its center a quartet by the Norwegian composer Leif Solberg (1914- ). Solberg has been part of the backbone of choral and organ writing in Norway for many years; this quartet dates from 1945, just before the end of the war. Prior to recording, the Engegård Quartet went to Lillehammer to play it to the composer. It is written traditionally in four movements and tonally. Solberg makes use of Norwegian folk melodies, the second movement nods at Grieg and the minuet at Mozart. No mere pastiche, though, this charming quartet is quite able to stand on its own feet, and the Engegård Quartet plays it beautifully and with authority. Solberg has written a single symphony dating from 1951-52, enthusiastically promoted and conducted by Gary Brain for its first performance in 1998 and now overdue for its first recording.
2L’s recording is exemplary – would that all quartets were recorded with the same fidelity – the SACD production superb as is the norm for this label. Most highly recommended!
— Peter Joelson
