BaL 14.11.20 - Mendelssohn: String Quartet no. 6 in F minor Op.80

[jayne lee wilson]

I think her specific point about the form of this work was that so much emotion is contained within it.

I’d say you would be less harsh on a reviewer from the Gramophone panel, Jayne!

I would feel no essential reason to be any less critical; when I read each month's Collection, I often take similar issue....

There was more to my comments than sonata though; see #42 et seq, cyclic form etc.....true enough about the emotional intensity Alison - but see my earlier comments for why this seemed overemphasised in context....it isn't unique to this work, though Op.80 is its most intense manifestation.

Final plug for Op.18... listening again this morning, wow! Pouring(**) forth its melodic and rhythmic invention with such fluid, effortlessly complex contrapuntal lines....quite astonishing and with such an exhilarating finale! He was a mature creator by 17, beyond even Mozart at that age.
The natural successor to K515 & K516....no wonder Hans Keller admired it so much.

((**) Originally wrote "purring" by typo.... might have been the better choice...)

[Ein Heldenleben]

I do happen to agree with Jayne that the use of the word was unnecessary and added nothing; but I do think we’ve reached the point where mountains are being made out of molehills.

I’m also curious to hear about sonata form in Gotterdamerung!

The whole Ring has been likened to a gigantic symphony which I guess would make Gotterdamerung a sonata rondo.

[BBMmk2]

I’ll have to explore more of Mendelssohn’s music, I think.

[Nick Armstrong]

Finally caught up with this one...

I liked the way Natasha referred repeatedly to 'the listeners': it made it less of an inward-facing dialogue.

Agreed. Natasha Loges is by some distance my favourite BAL contributor, and this was a good listen. I still felt that AMcG’s interruptions upset the train of her thought/analysis on a couple of occasions, but it wasn’t as bad as some thanks to NL’s skills.

Fascinating survey of a fantastic work, one I don’t know well enough and of which I have no recording.

I liked the Ebene a lot, would be happy to have a copy, but there is something in the sound ( and performance? ) that feels a bit less that crystal clear.

Funny how things strike one. I thought from the moment I heard the first Ebène extract that it was the one I had to have, whatever NL’s final choice. In any repertoire, the sound this group makes (and the recording quality they receive) just suits my ears ideally... (I’m a bit over sensitive about violin tone especially, I frequently don’t enjoy recorded violin music). There is a complete lack of anything shrill or steely even in the most emphatic music - I can’t take my ears off their playing.

Their Ravel & Fauré quartets are among my favourite recordings of anything, and I can’t wait to hear the entire recording of the Mendelssohns’ pieces.

[HighlandDougie]

Finally caught up with this one...


Agreed. Natasha Loges is by some distance my favourite BAL contributor, and this was a good listen. I still felt that AMcG’s interruptions upset the train of her thought/analysis on a couple of occasions, but it wasn’t as bad as some thanks to NL’s skills.

Fascinating survey of a fantastic work, one I don’t know well enough and of which I have no recording.



I can’t take my ears off their playing.

Their Ravel & Fauré quartets are among my favourite recordings of anything, and I can’t wait to hear the entire recording of the Mendelssohns’ pieces.

Sorry - off-Mendelssohn topic but the Ébène's LvB box has been a real delight over the past few months. Can I also plug the Van Kuijk's Mozart - Quintets enthused about by Jayne - and the two Mozart quartet discs released so far are a joy. They might even persuade BBM to finally admit WAM to his pantheon of musical greats.

[silvestrione]

Sorry - off-Mendelssohn topic but the Ébène's LvB box has been a real delight over the past few months. Can I also plug the Van Kuijk's Mozart - Quintets enthused about by Jayne - and the two Mozart quartet discs released so far are a joy. They might even persuade BBM to finally admit WAM to his pantheon of musical greats.

Sorry...could you clarify? whose Mozart quartets? I could do with some new versions there!

[jayne lee wilson]

Sorry...could you clarify? whose Mozart quartets? I could do with some new versions there!

These brilliant youngsters here.....

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=quatuor+van+kuijk+mozart&i=boutique

The Mozart Quintets have meant a great deal to me for many years(**), and these performances are remarkable as I've repeatedly said....I played the Van Kuijk's K421 the other day, and that seems pretty good too.

Until now my go-to for this rep would be the period instrument groups - Kuijken Quartet or the Festetics (who don't seem to have done the Quintets, great pity).
But the Van Kuijks have won my heart in the same repertoire...just exceptional.

https://www.quatuorvankuijk.com/lequatuor#Biographie

....instrumentarium at the foot of the page...

(**Hans Keller's comments on the Quintets in the faber Mozart Companion are well worth a look...
"The G Minor Quintet is as great as the G Minor Symphony, whence it is greater".... etc.)

[HighlandDougie]

Sorry...could you clarify? whose Mozart quartets? I could do with some new versions there!

Jayne has beaten me to it but the Quatuor Van Kuijk. I bought the K428/K465 disc for about £2.50 in a FNAC sale and found myself enjoying it hugely, listening to it with some frequency. So the next one, K387/K421, was a "must-buy" - and is no less impressive for the virtuosity of the playing as well as the imagination and sense of players enjoying themselves which underlies the music-making. Their Ravel/Debussy/Chausson disc is also very fine indeed.

[silvestrione]

Jayne has beaten me to it but the Quatuor Van Kuijk. I bought the K428/K465 disc for about £2.50 in a FNAC sale and found myself enjoying it hugely, listening to it with some frequency. So the next one, K387/K421, was a "must-buy" - and is no less impressive for the virtuosity of the playing as well as the imagination and sense of players enjoying themselves which underlies the music-making. Their Ravel/Debussy/Chausson disc is also very fine indeed.

Thanks, will investigate.

[Barbirollians]

Bought the winner some time ago but only recently got round to listening to it . It is a terrific record and the recording of Fanny M's quartet is the best of that I have ever heard too.