NN Ano Schumann

Three String Quartets, Op 41

Fine Arts Quartet (Ralph Evans, Efim Boico vns Yuri Gandelsman va Wolfgang Laufer vc) Naxos 0 8 570151 (79' • DDD)

Selected comparison — coupled as above: Ysaye Qt (4/04) (AEON) AECD0418 Not 1 and 3 — selected comparison:

Zebermair Qt (6/03) (ECM) 472 169-2 Fine quartet playing, even if the Fine Arts rein in some of the danger 111 tiCHUMA The Schumann quartets ri.me vftett. N.. can just be squeezed onto one CD; in 2004 the brisk and lively Ysaye Quartet managed it comfortably but the Fine Arts, playing with greater expressive weight, have to leave out the first-movement repeat in the Second Quartet. The outstanding aspect of these performances is the quality of sound, rich and beautifully blended. With a heartfelt, expressive quality, they're able to bring out fully the lyrical side of Schumann's invention, as in the Third Quartet's Adagio, sustained at a very spacious tempo. Throughout, the tone is full and rounded, and never harsh: admirable, but there's a side effect of narrowing the dynamic range. For the pianissimo in the sustained passage near the end of the First Quartet, they do produce something special, but there are other places that would have benefited from a more tenuous, mysterious sound. The Fine Arts avoid very fast tempi, as well as very quiet sounds; I certainly feel that the more dangerous speeds taken by the Ysaye and Zehetmair Quartets in the finales of Nos 1 and 3 make for extra excitement. On the other hand, in the Second Quartet's finale their playing is elegant and singing in a way that escapes the brusquer Ysaye. In No 3's first movement, the

Fine Arts take Schumann's Allegro molto moderato literally; their performance is very beautiful but maybe a little lethargic. The Zehetmair Quartet's lighter style here allows them to combine tranquillity with an easy flow.

So, the Fine Arts are better at Eusebius than Florestan; but it's lovely quartet playing, and I'll want to return to it. Duncan Druce