Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart :: Mozart: String Quartets in B flat major K 458 & in E flat major K 428

Superb Performances of Two of the Mozart Quartets Dedicated

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 11/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the third release by the Klenke Quartet in their series of Mozart quartets, and it contains the final quartets of their traversal of the so-called 'Haydn' Quartets that Mozart wrote in honor of his older colleague. We're told in the CD booklet that the group intends to record the other four mature Mozart quartets as well.



I raved about the performances on the two earlier releases and feel the same way about these performances. K. 458, the 'Hunt' Quartet, is one of the most familiar of Mozart's chamber works and it is given a stunning performance here. One hears a great variety of tonal qualities from this group, and there are little applications of rubato here and there that breathe air into the music. Hardly a bar goes by without some rhythmic, dynamic or tonal effect, and yet these do not sound like mannered or overly Romantic performances. It must be said, though, that in these quartets Mozart opened the door for the Romantic movement to come. Just listen to the chromaticism of the Andante of the K.428 (from 1783) with its prefiguring of the Tristan chord.



Each of the movements has its felicities. I am particularly struck by the slow movements of both quartets with their serenity harmonically underpinned by a soulfulness that only Mozart among his contemporaries was capable of. It is in these moments that he surpasses his mentor, Haydn.



Make no mistake, the Klenke Quartet, although fairly young, has made recordings that bid fair for shelf space along with the classic Quartetto Italiano, Emerson Quartet and American String Quartet recordings. I look forward eagerly to any future recordings they will make.



Scott Morrison"