BaL 26.01.19 - Schumann: String Quartet No 3 in A, Op 41

**Beef Oven!** · 18-01-19, 11:32

Just the Takács Quartet on Hyperion. I'm unlikely to add to it, but eagerly await the broadcast (although I hope it improves on the dip in quality (IMO) of BaLs since the Halcyon days of 2018).

**jayne lee wilson** · 18-01-19, 15:53

The Eroicas on the one hand, the Leipzigers on the other. Perfection for me.

Just one? Leipziger Streichquartett....they play the complete Op.41 1-3 in their original 1842 Versions, which have several fascinating if relatively minor differences...
But most of all - an unaffected, quasi-HIPPs style, tonal purity, spaciously natural recorded sound (MDG) - and a devotedly idiomatic presentation. I love the music deeply, and these performers too.
Interestingly I tend to take against ensembles who have a more "individualistic" or "mannered" approach to this music, or String Quartet rep generally......

With orchestral, it often goes the other way....

**BBMmk2** · 19-01-19, 10:21

Not one for me.

**mikealdren** · 19-01-19, 10:36

Originally posted by BBMmk2 View Post

Not one for me.

Schumann quartets haven't been my cup of tea either but I'll give it another try and may have a new addition to my library.

**richardfinegold** · 19-01-19, 11:01

Originally posted by mikealdren View Post

Schumann quartets haven't been my cup of tea either but I'll give it another try and may have a new addition to my library.

Me neither. I have the Tokyo Quartet but there may be one lurking in the Quartetto Italiano box

**richardfinegold** · 19-01-19, 11:03

Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post

Me neither. I have the Tokyo Quartet but there may be one lurking in the Quartetto Italiano box

There are an awful lot of recordings listed for a rather ho hum piece of music...

**Mal** · 19-01-19, 11:19

Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post

There are an awful lot of recordings listed for a rather ho hum piece of music...

"Complete cycles: These are fewer in number than these intimate and delightfiul works deserve." - Third Ear, and he suggests 3 is the "most assured of the three".

**Mal** · 19-01-19, 11:32

... but Third Ear also suggest this, and the other quartets, are elusive works that not many get right. They've certainly eluded by library so far! It should be an interesting BAL...

**Beef Oven!** · 19-01-19, 11:34

Originally posted by Mal View Post

... but Third Ear also suggest this, and the other quartets, are elusive works that not many get right. They've certainly eluded by library so far! It should be an interesting BAL...

I only have #3. The rest have eluded my library too.

(I hope you recover quickly from your cold)

**jayne lee wilson** · 19-01-19, 15:43

These 3 works simply need - time and familiarity... (when was it any different?). They are truly lovable, rewarding and - surprisingly distinctive once you really get to know them.
Yes, NO.3 is the catchiest (with its cant-get-you-outta-my-head finale) ..but you may surprise yourselves if you give the others the time they need....(the same applies to the Trios and Violin Sonatas too - these are serious, emotionally deep & complex works..but... "oh listen and they'll come to you"...and haunt you like the ghost itself...).

I feel they do need a purity and simplicity of expression in the playing though, with no overemphasis of emotion or dynamics etc., no rhetorical surging of the phrase.

This one is musical heaven for me.... (I picked it up 2ndhand for £7 a few years back (momox again) - astounding luck...)

Amazon.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zacharias-Leipziger-Streichquartett-Schumann/dp/B003A6OHE6/ref=tmm_acd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp&qid=1547912680&amp&sr=8-1

I've sampled several recent sets via Qobuz, but (the differently-presented period-instrument Eroicas apart https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/sc.../0093046727024) never found any to match the Leipizgers;
Not cheap, but grab it while you can!

**Sir Velo** · 19-01-19, 16:28

Originally posted by jayne lee wilson View Post

These 3 works simply need - time and familiarity... (when was it any different?). They are truly lovable, rewarding and - surprisingly distinctive once you really get to know them.
Yes, NO.3 is the catchiest (with its cant-get-you-outta-my-head finale) ..but you may surprise yourselves if you give the others the time they need....(the same applies to the Trios and Violin Sonatas too - these are serious, emotionally deep & complex works..but... "oh listen and they'll come to you"...and haunt you like the ghost itself...).

I feel they do need a purity and simplicity of expression in the playing though, with no overemphasis of emotion or dynamics etc., no rhetorical surging of the phrase.

This one is musical heaven for me.... (I picked it up 2ndhand for £7 a few years back (momox again) - astounding luck...)

Amazon.co.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zacharias-Leipziger-Streichquartett-Schumann/dp/B003A6OHE6/ref=tmm_acd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&&qid=1547912680&&sr=8-1

I've sampled several recent sets via Qobuz, but (the differently-presented period-instrument Eroicas apart https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/sc.../0093046727024) never found any to match the Leipizgers;
Not cheap, but grab it while you can!

I've always enjoyed the Ysaye, which had the added virtue of fitting all three works onto one CD. Now that I've fully embraced download and streaming, this no longer counts as a consideration, so will be listening with renewed interest to this BAL.

**jayne lee wilson** · 19-01-19, 20:37

Originally posted by Sir Velo View Post

I've always enjoyed the Ysaye, which had the added virtue of fitting all three works onto one CD. Now that I've fully embraced download and streaming, this no longer counts as a consideration, so will be listening with renewed interest to this BAL.

Hmm.... just a shame that MDG allowed very few off their label for streaming, including the lovely Leipzigers (in fact the label appears to be absent from Qobuz now) it is a unique set, textually and musically...

A feature of the original versions, unique to the Leipzig set, is that they keep the stringendo intro to No.2, which Schumann seems to have moved later to its place between the intro/allegro of No.1; personally I like having it in both, especially if listening to the works consecutively...
Still, the Eroicas have the stringendo on a separate track, so you can programme it in before No.2 if you wish - and the notes are helpfully explanatory about the history of it.

Just trying the Ysaÿe in No.1.... no match for the Leipzigers for definitional grip and sheer guttiness in the rhythmic passages (of which there are many) - and in the scherzo, there are some exciting additional effects on the MDG lost in the revision.
I found the Ysaÿe slightly too Romantic for my taste in the adagio, though they play beautifully, I must admit.

What a shame the MDG is expensive-purchase only.....the Leipzigers do probe the darker, deeper side of these works more than most. You should hear what they do with the remarkable hurdy-gurdy/adagio reference near the end of No.1.

It's a pity No.3 has so often hogged the attention, and a shame to underwrite it again. The BaL could easily have covered the Complete Op. 41 1-3, especially as so many recordings are now of the intégrale...

**jayne lee wilson** · 20-01-19, 10:06

Just been listening to Nos. 1 & 2 from this for the first time....Fine Arts Quartet... (re. 2006)...

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/qu.../0747313015177

A sweeter, gentler style, some repeats omitted.... an unaffected "classic" quartet sound with a fine, subtle expressive range. Warm adagios, nimble, fleet scherzos... Really lovely, fluid playing.

What wonderful music this is...!

***
The Fine Arts' approach works less well in 41/3. A lack of dynamic variation (almost no pp at all...), along with rather unvarying (yet sometimes unnatural) phrasing and accentuation, restricts them to a limited expressive range - a lack of adventurousness. . Their portamento is welcome, but it's all a bit too sweet and gentle.

**edashtav** · 20-01-19, 10:29

I liked you "guttiness" in post#13, even as I misread it as "gutsiness", Jayne, then I saw its stringy nature and that it was further defined by 'grip' which adds a pineful, resinous note. Your freedom and fantasy of expression is becoming akin to late Schumann!

Full marks for giving ( my autospeller insisted on 'forgiving') older recordings a fresh "spin"... note that I don't yet know the post hard-CD lingo...we must ask Jayne to conjure one!

BaL 26.01.19 - Schumann: String Quartet No 3 in A, Op 41

BaL 26.01.19 - Schumann: String Quartet No 3 in A, Op 41

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