Mandelring Quartett – Felix Mendelssohn: Complete Chamber Music For Strings Vol. 1 (2012)
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,57 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,27 GB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: audite # 92.656 SACD | Country/Year: Germany 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Classicism, Romantic, Chamber Music
As the title indicates, this is the first volume in a projected cycle of all Mendelssohn’s string chamber works (including the quintets and octet) to be presented on 4 discs.
The present volume includes the first two numbered quartets and closes with the early quartet completed when Mendelssohn was barely 14! As correctly mentioned in the notes, all three works pay tribute to Beethoven’s contributions to the genre and there are many audible melodic devices employed that tip Mendelssohn’s hat firmly in the direction of the older master. The playing is predictably fine, tempo choices always finding the right level of movement or stasis; this is perhaps is best illustrated by the second movement of Op. 12 where the Allegretto has just a delightful bounce before the “piu mosso” section takes wing in the best Midsummer Nights Dream mode. Especially in the slow movement of Op. 13, the whole ensemble get to demonstrate their ability to spin a lyrical line with ardour and restraint simultaneously & show little sympathy with many of the aesthetics of the HIP movement. This leads neatly to the one area that some may quibble about: the Mandelring’s seating is unequivocally mid-C20 (vln 1 – v1n 2 – vla – vc; left to right) and some of the interplay between the two violin parts is inevitably downplayed. The observations of the dynamic markings are scrupulous and add greatly to the excitement as they seem to be able plumb ever greater tonal depths at either end of the dynamic spectrum. Perhaps most impressive of all is the respect shown by the Mandelring’s for the unnumbered quartet of 1823, which although written some 2 years prior to the great octet shows the rapidly growing style of the young Mendelssohn. They play it with the same professionalism and joy that characterises their other performances.
Audite’s sound is good; full yet clear with easy location of the players possible.
Recommended if one is not a die-hard HIP fan.
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Mandelring Quartett – Ravel & La Tombelle: String Quartets (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 57:24 minutes | 568 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © audite Musikproduktion
Although Maurice Ravel, in his string quartet, explicitly refers to the quartet written ten years earlier by his colleague, Claude Debussy, he opts to follows his own, new path and arrives at a distinctive Ravelian tone: colourful, refined and saturated with that flair of the artificial which also characterises his beloved porcelain and glass artworks, ornamental shrubs and bonsai trees. At the same time, the quartet is meticulously constructed and so rich in ingenious details that it offers room for discovery even after repeated listening.
A great unknown and certainly one of the most fascinating protagonists of French musical life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is Fernand de La Tombelle: pianist, organist, writer, astronomer, visual artist, author of a guide on a traditional recipe involving foie gras and truffles, passionate cyclist – and prolific composer: his œuvre comprises more than 500 works, including a large number of chamber music works. His string quartet written in 1895 is rooted in the Viennese classical tradition and yet is unmistakably French: highly expressive, harmonically colourful and extremely elegant at the same time – a work that makes one want to discover more by La Tombelle!
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Mandelring Quartett – Debussy & Rivier: String Quartets (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:06:51 minutes | 671 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © audite Musikproduktion
The Mandelring Quartett’s latest double release is dedicated to French repertoire. The first part presents Maurice Ravel’s ground-breaking String Quartet and the equally colourful one by his contemporary Fernand de La Tombelle. This second release juxtaposes Claude Debussy’s Quartet with Jean Rivier’s two companion works rooted in neoclassicism – an exciting combination!
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Mandelring Quartett – Shostakovich: String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 4 (2006)
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,30 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,12 GB | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Audite # 92.526 | Country/Year: Germany 2006 | Genre: Classical | Style: Contemporary
A triumphant start to what heralds to be one of the best Shostakovich quartet cycles imaginable.
The numbering of the quartets is a little more concentrated in time than the comparable symphonies (for example, the first quartet was written in 1938 after the first five symphonies had been completed). As such, listeners should not be surprised by the emotional intensity and rawness of the melodic language employed even in this first volume encompassing quartets 1, 2 and 4.
The Mandelring Quartett play this repertoire with the same extraordinary unanimity of approach and beautiful sound that has characterised their Schubert cycle thus far. Here though, their tone is more concentrated and less rich than before, yet their emotional response is far greater. The lament that forms the central “Recitative and Romance” of the second quartet (written in 1944) is heart-rendering in the eloquence and power that they bring.
The more high-tempo parts are not short-changed either and the Mandelring bring plenty of excitement without ever sacrificing tone production or intonation – one can imagine few fiercer attacks than they bring in Waltz (also from the second quartet). The more (superficially) tender sections receive equally dedicated playing and hold the ear as easily as more outwardly exhibitionist moments. The Mandelring quartet are also scrupulous in their following of the dynamic markings so that Shostakovich’s intentions are easy for the ear and mind to observe without recourse to a score. The overall impression is that the Mandelring players have placed themselves firmly at the service of the music rather than the score to be a vehicle for display (not that they have anything to fear on this count!)
The sound is also very good and one is able to ascertain the location of each musician with ease – the placing of the listener is in a very good seat indeed within a fine concert hall and the multi-channel sound has a lovely sense of presence; it is hard to imagine a better reflection of their sound being possible.
Highly recommended.
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