Search - Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Kodaly Quartet :: Schubert: Complete Quartets, Vol. 5

This Worthwhile Series Continues

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 09/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Naxos's house quartet, the Kodály Quartet, seems to be recording everything ever written for string quartet. They've already recorded the complete Haydn, Beethoven, Debussy and Ravel quartets. And this is the fifth of six Schubert Quartet CDs to be released.This disc contains early Schubert--Quartets 2 (1812), 6 (1813) and 11 (1816), all written when he was in his teens; he was born in 1797. Indeed the Second was written before chorister Schubert's voice had changed! They do not sound like echt Schubert--more like Mozart or sometimes even a little like Rossini. Still, they are clever imitations and certainly show us how talented Schubert was as a youngster. And what a hard worker he was.There is not an awkward moment in any of these pieces, and indeed I can even imagine Mozart or Haydn might have been glad to claim them as their own. I particularly like the sprightly rondo finale of Quartet No. 11, the slow movement of No. 2 (a siciliano), and the courtly minuet of No. 6. All are played with a passion and musicianly nuance by the Kodály Quartet who certainly do NOT sound like they are simply playing through what might have been discounted by some to be apprentice works. Frankly, I am happy to have the first five volumes--plus another containing the Quintet in C--and look forward obtaining the last in the series.Naxos provides clear and lifelike sound. Scott Morrison"