CD Reviews - August 2022

Baritone Roderick Williams has joined with the Coull Quartet for a wonderful new recording of works for voice and string quartet. Surprisingly, despite the centrality of the string quartet in the chamber repertoire, works that put this together with voice are relatively rare. At the centre of this disc is one of the most significant works, Samuel Barber's (1910-1981) 'Dover Beach'. Here it receives a gloriously atmospheric performance, from the mysterious opening from the strings through to its dark, almost desperate climax. Williams relishes in the word-painting, highlighting the expression on words like tremulous, slow and sadness. Williams has then arranged two other of Barber's songs here for string quartet accompaniment. This adds sensitive textures to 'Sleep Now', with a tender lullaby lilt in the strings, and disturbing interjections in the wintry central verse, with rumbles of unease remaining from the strings before the final peaceful cadence. 'Sure on this Shining Night', which lends its title to the disc, is full of soft and tender wonder, with gently pulsing strings, and a delicate violin countermelody winding its way around Williams' warm toned vocal line. Following the Barber is 'Tree Carols', a set of five songs by Sally Beamish (b. 1956). The poetry (by Fiona Sampson) is full of dark imagery, colour and emotion, with dark simplicity expressing loss in 'The trees are troubled', and high, bright lines evoking starlight and 'tree heaven' in 'The tree is a changing sky'. Writing specifically for Williams, Beamish exploits the ease and bright tone of his higher registers, and the bloom of his high lines in 'The Miracle Tree' which opens the set is contrasted wonderfully with the shimmering strings to create a sense of wonder. At the start of the disc, Williams is joined by soprano Sophie Bevan and tenor James Gilchrist for a collection of songs by Peter Warlock (1894-1930). Warlock is probably best known for his Capriol Suite, The Curlew song cycle, or perhaps some of his boisterous drinking songs, but he wrote over 120 songs, as well as numerous choral pieces and works for voice and chamber ensembles. There are a couple of duets here. 'Corpus Christi' sees a soft-toned Williams paired with mellow warmth from Bevan, against darkly sliding harmonies from the Coull Quartet, and in 'Sorrow's Lullaby', Bevan is joined by Gilchrist, the two voices weaving with a violin line, strings muted throughout. Elsewhere, Gilchrist brings a light bounce to 'Chopcherry' and 'The Fairest May', and he floats lightly above the dancing strings in 'My lady is a pretty one'. Bevan shows clarity and impressive control in the melodic leaps to high notes in 'A Sad Song', and sweet simplicity in 'My little sweet darling'. Williams is gently lyrical in 'Mourn no moe' and suitably plaintive in 'Take, O take those lips away'. The disc ends with three more arrangements from Williams, this time of songs by Frederick Delius (1862-1934). In 'I-Brasil', the mystery of the mythical island is captured in the falling snap rhythmic figure, and Williams is suitably wistful in the sorrowful calls. The open fifths at the start of 'Twilight Fancies' sit particularly well with the strings here, sounding almost like horn calls, and Williams is atmospherically expressive above the rich string textures. The accompaniment for the final song, 'Young Venevil', is playful and imaginative with bird-like violins, and Williams places the melody delicately above, with some effortlessly light top Gs. This is a fascinating disc, offering some delightful repertoire with top notch performances from singers and players alike.

Various. 2022. On This Shining Night - Music for Voice and String Quartet. Roderick Williams, James Gilchrist, Sophie Bevan, Coull Quartet. Compact Disc. SOMM Recordings SOMMCD 0654.

In this short disc, Italian pianist Alberto Nones performs the three works by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) with Fantaisie in the title. Nones’ approach here is to somewhat strip away the virtuosic fireworks to reveal the precise detail that sometimes gets lost in more overtly showy performances. This is very evident in the fluid Fantasie-Impromptu, Op. 66. The outer sections certainly flow here, apart from occasional halts in the momentum, and there is no compromise of tempo. The central section, however, could flow more, as there is extensive pulling about of the tempo here. But every detail can be heard, and the final section, whilst not as fiery as some other performances, is certainly impressive. In Fantasie, Op. 49, Nones’ approach is perhaps more successful, with its gentle opening to the drama that unfolds in a somewhat matter of fact way. Nones gives weight where needed, but the chorale like sections have a gentle simplicity. Nones gives the Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61, a more stately, expectant opening, bridging well the transition from the recit-like statements into the flowing dance that finally gets going. There is a lightness here that allows the dancing melody to sing out, and the build to the virtuosic conclusion is not rushed or obscured by excessive weight. So whilst these might not be definitive recordings of these work, there is much to be savoured here in Nones’ refreshingly unfussy playing, revealing fresh insights into familiar works. 

Chopin, F. 2022. Complete Fantasies. Alberto Nones. Compact Disc. Convivium Records CR074.

Somewhat slightly different territory for me now - another pianist recording with Convivium, but this time the Italian jazz pianist Matteo Bisbano Memmo. Clearly a highly virtuosic pianist, he demonstrates this with some astonishing playing in the first half of the disc, a selection of standards, with a number of arrangements from the extraordinary Art Tatum. Here, Bisbano shows no fear, with rippling fluidity and startling virtuosity in Charlie Mingus' 'Duke Ellington's Sound of Love', and the wild, fiendishly racing 'Tiger Rag'. There is some lightness of touch in 'Alfonsina Y El Mar', and softness in the rich chords of 'Yesterdays', but mostly the requirements of the extreme virtuosity does lead to a somewhat harshly percussive sound in places. However, in the second half of the disc, Bisbano moves to a selection of his own compositions, and the mood is completely different. The virtuosity is still evident, in the driving energy of the extended composition, 'Metalknife', for example, but there is also more dynamic variety in the lively, urban 'Smokey Stogie', and enigmatic, more lyrical writing in 'Rose'. He uses the open piano strings effectively at the mysterious start of 'Metalknife', and the atmospheric, slow-moving harmonies in 'Stardust Light' are highly effective. And what to finish with? Well, a cover of Metallica's 'Master of Puppets', of course. He captures the relentless drive and percussive hammering here, once again with highly virtuosic playing, but there are also moments of sudden delicacy in the brief lyrical interludes. Overall, this is an impressive display of virtuosic talent, but for me, it is in his more expressively varied own compositions that Bisbano's pianistic voice shines.

Various. 2022. Metalknife - Music for modern piano. Matteo Bisbano Memmo. Compact Disc. Convivium Records CR066.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in Scene, August 2022) 

CD Reviews - May 2019

On his latest release, violinist Johannes Pramsohler is joined by fellow violinist from his Ensemble Diderot, Roldán Bernabé for a fascinating collection of French 18^thcentury sonatas for two violins. Louis-Gabriel Guillemain’s (1705-1770) bright Sonata Op. 4 No. 2 which opens the disc immediately sets the tone here, with a sweetness of tone beautifully matched between the two players, and the frequent double-stoppings in both parts make this often sound like at least three of four violins are at play. The gentle Largo is given a delightfully graceful touch, and the dancing Allegro to finish has stylish poise.  Jean-Marie Leclair’s (1697-1764) Sonata Op. 12 No. 6 has beautiful colours in the delicate ornamentations, and Pramsohler & Bernabé excel particularly in the quirky fugal writing of its second movement. But the highlight of the disc has to be a sequence of pieces by Jean-Pierre Guignon (1702-1744), which were performed by Guignon and fellow virtuoso Jean-Joseph Mondonville. These are dazzlingly virtuosic sets of variations, based on tunes such as an air by Rameau (Les Sauvages), and the famous Spanish tune used by many composers as the source for variation, Les Folies D’Espagne, or La Folia. Here, the variations build in complexity and difficulty, so that by the end, both violinists are engaged in rapid leaps and fiendish double-stopping. Étienne Mangean’s (c.1710-c.1756) Sonata Op. 3 No. 6 restores some calm briefly with its stately opening movement, and pulsing Adagio, but the final Chiacona is full of rich stops and rapid runs, bringing this wonderful collection to a highly pleasing conclusion.

Various. 2019. Sonatas for two violins - Guillemain, Leclair, Guignon, Mangean. Johannes Pramsohler, Roldán Bernabé. Compact Disc. Addax Records ADX 13714.

Pianist Mark Bebbington has recorded a disc of works by Arnold Bax (1883-1953), along with a premiere recording of Harriet Cohen’s (1895-1967) Russian Impressions. The disc opens with Bax’s Sonata in E flat major, which was never performed publicly in Bax’s lifetime.  He wrote it in 1921, but the densely textured work went on to form his First Symphony, so the piano version was laid to one side. It opens explosively with weighty, dramatic exclamations, although it subsides into relative calm, before slowly building back up in intensity.  Bebbington manages the thick textures and chromatic colours with great clarity, and paces the ebb and flow of the dynamic shifts with great control, and the watery ripples of the opening of the slow movement are captivating. Again, the music builds to a phenomenal climax, before a beautifully soft and tender conclusion. The weighty chordal opening to the finale gives way to a sprightly chromatic theme, and Bebbington leads us towards its emphatically triumphant close with energy and determination. The Sonata is followed here by an unpublished work by Bax, In the Night (Passacaglia). This has a dreamy, nocturnal feel throughout, and after the fireworks of the Sonata, it gives Bebbington the chance to demonstrate a softer touch, although there is also a fervently romantic climax here too. The Four Pieces from 1947 were again not performed in Bax’s lifetime, and receive their premiere recording here. A spiky, sardonic Fantastic March is followed by more nocturnal writing in the dark Romanza, then a calmer Idyll, before an uneasy, turbulent Phantasie to finish. The single movement Legend concludes the disc here, with its rippling arpeggios and cantabile central melody, concluded with more emphatic chordal writing. But before this comes Cohen’s Russian Impressions. Pianist Harriet Cohen was a key figure in English music of the time, premiering works by many composers, including Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Ireland and of course Bax, with whom she had a forty-year affair. Her Russian Impressions are her only original compositions in print. As one might expect from the title, the four movements are impressionistic, with an atmospheric Sunset on the Volga to open, followed by a solemnly touching The Exile. The Old Church at Wilna is equally moody, with its tolling opening chords, and The Tartars, the longest of the four pieces, uses more bell-like chords to underpin its darkly mellow melody. Bebbington brings out some of the richness in Cohen’s harmonies within these atmospheric miniatures, and they provide welcome contrast to the weight of Bax’s writing. An interesting exploration of mostly unknown repertoire, expertly and knowledgeably performed here.

Various. 2019. Private Passions - Piano music by Arnold Bax and Harriet Cohen. Mark Bebbington. Compact Disc. Somm Recordings. SOMMCD 0193.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, May 2019)

CD Reviews - March/April 2019

Peter Donohoe launches his series of Piano Sonatas by W. A. Mozart (1756-91) with a disc containing two Sonatas from Mozart's set of six, composed in Munich in his late teens, together with his penultimate Sonata, composed in Vienna a couple of years before his death aged just 35.  Donohoe also throws in the popular Fantasia in D minor, K284 for good measure.  The early Sonatas are full of energy and drive, and as with all Mozart's Piano Sonatas, when played as expertly as they are hear, they sound deceptively simple. Donohoe's tempi are on the well-judged steady side, which means that Mozart's frequent rapid runs and arpeggios are always clear and precise.  The hand-crossing passages in K284 have clarity and poise, and the substantial finale here, a theme and no fewer than twelve variations, has a wonderful arc of development, with more precision in the complexity of triplets against semiquavers and more hand-crossing.  Donohoe holds the final note of the tenth variation over into the lengthy elegiac variation that follows, in which he allows himself a little freedom to allow the elaborate ornamentation to breathe, before the light brevity of the final triple time variation brings the Sonata to a lively close. K280 again appears straightforward, but its first movement surprises with striking chromatic harmonic progressions in the development section, and Donohoe brings out the plaintive lilt of the slow movement, before dancing through the sprightly Presto. His Fantasia is heartfelt and more introspective, less obviously showy, which fits well with the lightness of the D major conclusion, which can sound incongruous if the first half is overblown.  Again, Donohoe takes a measured approach to the opening movement of K570, which allows space for the ranging harmonies in its development section to be registered.  The slow movement here is beautifully contemplative, and Donohoe plays the graceful second half with great delicacy, before enjoying the perkiness of the sprightly finale.  On the basis of this first volume, Donohoe's Mozart is warm, open and precise, allowing the music to breathe, achieving a fine balance, allowing for moments of drama without ever losing classical grace and poise.  Roll on volume 2!

Mozart, W. A. 2019. Piano Sonatas, Volume 1. Peter Donohoe. Compact Disc. Somm Recordings SOMMCD 0191.

Another first volume now, this time Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) String Quartets, from the Doric String Quartet.  Here we have the first and last of Mendelssohn's six published quartets, together with the fifth, spanning from age just twenty to the year of his death, aged 38 (so just 3 years older than Mozart at his death).  If you don't know Mendelssohn's chamber music, then you should - it is always full of life and energy, as well as incredible invention. The first String Quartet, Op. 12 stems from the time of Mendelssohn's infamous Scottish tour that produced the Hebrides Overture and the Scottish Symphony.  Its opening movement never stops flowing, with warm lyricism as well as a turbulent urgency, and the Doric String Quartet never let that sense of perpetual progress to sag.  The canzonetta second movement is light and delicate, and the players skitter through the quicker central section with ease.  Following the passionate and striking third movement, the finale is frenzied and again turbulent, with swirling, dizzying lines for the violins, before a surprising quiet conclusion.  Mendelssohn referred to the late String Quartet Op. 80 as his 'Requiem for Fanny', his beloved sister had suddenly died following a stroke.  It is indeed a work of passion, with its frenzied, nervy opening movement and earnest scherzo with its dark trio section. The slow movement is full of yearning, the Dorics bringing this out with beauty of tone throughout, and the finale, with its hints of Schubert's Death and the Maiden, is wild and heartfelt.  On a short second disc, we have the String Quartet Op. 44 No. 3, completed just before the birth of his first son in 1838.  It is lively and spirited, with a fleeting scherzo and a beautifully lyrical slow movement that moves from light to shade and back, before an energetic finale full of remarkable invention.  The Dorics once again carry the almost relentless energy throughout the work, particularly the lengthy finale.  Highly recommended.

Mendelssohn, F. 2018. String Quartets, Volume 1. Doric String Quartet. Compact Discs (2). Chandos CHAN 20122(2).

Silvius Leopold Weiss (1686-1850), a contemporary of J S Bach, has been a bit of recent discovery for me, and regular readers will have read about several recordings of his music in these pages.  Lutenist Alex McCartney (another favourite) has brought us more of this lutenist-composer’s wonderful compositions on his latest disc, Weiss in Nostalgia.  In the notes, McCartney explains this title in a rather roundabout way, which might seem rather technical – he performs the works on a 13-course lute, basically an instrument with additional bass strings that would have appeared later than when Weiss composed the two early Suites he plays here.  So he has the idea of an older Weiss performing his early compositions on a larger, more ‘up-to-date’ instrument.  This might not be particularly discernible to anyone not versed in the myriad forms of instruments in the lute family, but there is nevertheless definitely a rather wistful, nostalgic atmosphere here.  This might be partly to do with the very resonant, close recording, which makes for strong sense of intimacy in McCartney’s playing.  But the opening Prelude of the Suite No. 1, for example, immediately establishes a serene, calm atmosphere, followed up in the elegiac Allemande that follows. Nothing is rushed, with a gentle lilt to the Courante, and Menuets played with grace and poise. Only the Gigue lifts the tempo with a bounce in its step, and McCartney expertly brings out the melodic bass and tenor lines from within the texture in the closing Gavotte. The shorter Suite No. 13 that follows has richer, thicker textures, yet McCartney’s playing is never too heavy.  The Courante is rich and flowing, and the final Menuet has drone-like repeated bass notes, presumably with added emphasis on the 13-course instrument.  Whilst clearly challenging music to play, this is never overly showy, and McCartney consistently plays with grace and delicacy, making this a joy to listen to.

Weiss, S. L. 2018. Weiss in Nostalgia. Alex McCartney. Compact Disc. Veterum Musica VM019.

We go back at least three centuries now for medieval wind music performed by the ensemble Blondel.  Here we have shawms (early oboes), recorders and even bagpipes, along with the occasional sackbut (like a trombone) or slide trumpet, and an assortment of percussion instruments including tambor, frame drum and tamburello.  So an eclectic mix, and on a disc of a lot of relatively short tracks, this means there’s an incredible variety of textures and timbres. The overarching inspiration for the disc, which is titled ‘Of Arms and a Woman’, is the work of Christine de Pizan (1364-c.1430), described in the notes as ‘a forthright feminist, writer, political theorist, royal agony aunt and author of self-help books’, and most surprisingly perhaps, the author of ‘The Book of Fayttes of Arms and of Chivalrye’, a highly influential manual on modern warfare, of which Henry VII commissioned an English translation.  Although performed here instrumentally, most if not all the pieces were originally chansons or vocal settings, drawing on a wide variety of texts.  There are the usual themes of love and loss, but also a medieval call to arms in ‘A cheval, tout home a cheval’, and the slightly unsettling ‘Gardez le trait de la fenestre’ (Beware the arrow from the window).  Only one text is by Pizan herself, a poem of grief over the loss of her husband, ‘Dueil angoisseus’ (Agonising grief), set by Gilles Binchois (c.1400-1460).  As detailed are the notes about the music, the connection to Pizan and the overall theme is not always entirely apparent.  There’s lots of anonymous music here, as well as settings by Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), Robert Morton (c.1430-c.1479), Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) and others.  The contrast between the slightly more rustic, eastern-sounding bagpipes, the lively shawms and the more subdued and subtle recorders, as well as the occasional splashes of percussion, allow the five performers here to demonstrate impressive range and versatility.  From the folky bounce and rhythmic energy of ‘A cheval, tout home, a cheval’ played on shawms to the strange rhythms in canon for recorders of Johannes Ciconia’s (1370-1412) ‘Le ray au soleyl’, and the atmospheric dance for bagpipes with tamburello of Machaut’s ‘Je vivroie liement’, this is a fascinating collection, well worth exploration.

Various. 2019. Of arms and a woman - Late medieval wind music. Blondel. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR69.

And by way of contrast, I'd like to highlight a local artist, Oli Spleen, who has joined forces with local indie band Birdeatsbaby for his second studio album, Gaslight Illuminations.  Spleen's work might not be an obvious fit with this column, and he is hard to categorise, yet this album, with its deft writing for strings piano, and Spleen's soulful and expressive voice, should have broad appeal.  Written after the death of his father, it touches on deep and dark emotions, and Spleen's closely miked voice is rich and immediate.  There are touches of French chanson in the poignant 'Almost Young', whilst there's more than a dash of country, with steel guitar, in 'Little Lost', vocals shared between Spleen and Mishkin Fitzgerald. Spleen is Bowie-esque in the darkly self-destructive 'Mother and the Spoon', and the self-destruction, even self-harm of relationships continues in 'Ghost', which Spleen concludes with an otherworldly, pained falsetto.  Their cover of Nico & the Velvet Underground's 'I'll be your Mirror' is pared back, over simple piano and strings (with a snippet of a Brahms Hungarian Dance on music box at the end!).  Hana Maria deserves mention for the strings writing and playing, with some hauntingly glassy strings on 'Mister Crystal' and an improvisatory violin line in the weirdly dark and distorted 'Turning Tide'.  Listen and download from olispleen.bandcamp.com.

Spleen, O. et al. 2019. Gaslight Illuminations. Oli Spleen, Birdeatsbaby. Digital album.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, March & April 2019)

CD Reviews - April 2017

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) was born just one year before fellow pianist-composer, Rachmaninov, with whom he also studied at the Moscow Conservatory.  Of course Rachmaninov outlived Scriabin by many years, but also Scriabin’s music quickly went in a much more dissonant and individual direction than the ostensibly more accessible and tonal music of his contemporary.  Scriabin was fascinated by synesthesia (where people ‘see’ sounds as colours, for example).  Whilst it is unlikely that he was actually synesthetic himself, it had a strong influence on his harmonic theory, together with a fascination with mysticism and theosophy.  Consequently, his music can be hard to make immediate sense of, but then as his ten Piano Sonatas demonstrate, once you join his soundworld, there is much to reward your attention.  Peter Donohoe remarkably performs all ten sonatas in a single concert (well over two hours of music).  There is a lot to be said for hearing all ten in sequence, as they amply demonstrate the composer’s progression through the 21 years of their composition, and the building complexity of his style draws you in.  In the first four sonatas, he alternated between a four-movement structure and his more favoured two-movement form of a slow/fast combination.  From the fifth sonata onwards, he used a single movement, although often still following that slow/fast pattern.  The first sonata was written when he was 20, when he had damaged his right hand from over-practising virtuosic works, and thought it was the end of his performing career.  It is moody and dark, with a funeral march as its finale, already looking forward from its Chopinesque roots.  A freer second sonata, inspired by his first sight of the sea in Latvia, is followed by the deeper, soul-searching third, with its chromatic lines and turbulent mood.  The Wagnerian harmonies of the fourth are almost jazz-like and improvisatory in places, and the fifth has an incredibly passionate climax, with hammering chords.  By the sixth sonata, conventional tonality is almost gone, and the mysterious harmonies are deeply unsettling – even Scriabin found it ‘frightening’ and wouldn’t play it in public.  The ‘White Mass’ nickname of the seventh builds on the combination of weighty textures, contrasted with extensive use of rippling trills.  The eighth is more anxious than overtly turbulent, which Donohoe brings out well, with some almost skittish, impetuous passages, before disappearing away to nothing. The ninth, ‘Black Mass’, is full of ‘satanic’ tri-tones and chromatic scales, whereas the final sonata, which he described as his ‘sonata of insects’, is full of light and radiance.  This two-disc set is rounded off by one of Scriabin’s last works from the year before his death.  ‘Vers la Flamme’ is his representation of rising heat, growing from nothing to brilliance, with the heat of the sun eventually destroying the world.  So, a mammoth range here, and Donohoe takes us on a wild journey through these highly individual works.  The weight of his playing, particularly in the rapturous seventh, as well as his anxious filigree in the eighth, and the full-on romantic flourishes of the fourth and fifth amply demonstrate his phenomenal range.  The virtuosic command on show here is almost forgotten as the depth of his performances of these dark and complex works engulfs you. 

Scriabin, A. 2017. The Complete Piano Sonatas. Peter Donohoe. Compact Disc. Somm SOMMCD 262-2.

German mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger, together with pianist Alfredo Perl, has recorded three of Gustav Mahler’s (1860-1911) most well-known song cycles.  Most of the songs present here are better known in their orchestrated versions, so it is good to hear them in this form.  One might assume the piano versions came first, but in fact some were written after the orchestrated versions.  Here we have the Rückert-Lieder, the Kindertotenlieder (also with texts by Friedrich Rückert), and the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (‘Songs of a Wayfarer’).  Romberger has a rich mezzo voice, well suited for Mahler, and can regularly be heard in performances of the symphonies, appearing several times at the Proms.  Her full tones are demonstrated in ‘Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder’ from the Rückert-Lieder, yet in the first of this set, ‘Liebst du um Schönheit’, his private piece for Alma and the only one he didn’t orchestrate himself, the tender lifts to the high notes have great poise.  Romberger gives a heartfelt performance of ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’, although perhaps a little over controlled for this desperate plea.  The ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’ have strong links with the first symphony, the rustic ‘Ging heut morgen…’ and the melancholic ‘Die zwei blauen Augen’ both appearing there.  However, it is in the third song here, ‘Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer’, that Romberger gives full vent, with wild anguish and high drama.  In the heartfelt Kindertotenlieder, which draw on some of the 428 poems Rückert wrote following the death of his two children, Romberger again shows great control in the rising lines of ‘Nun seh’ ich wohl’, and pianist Perl has the opportunity to shine in the first song of the cycle.  Overall, this is a commanding set, and Romberger and Perl present a strong argument for these pared down versions of Mahler’s finest songs.

Mahler, G. 2017. Rückert-Lieder, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder. Gerhild Romberger, Alfredo Perl. Hybrid Super Audio Compact Disc. MDG 903 1972-6.

The Doric String Quartet has released their second CD of String Quartets by Franz Schubert (1797-1828).  Following on from the success of the first, they remain in the later reaches of Schubert’s string quartet output, pairing the wonderful ‘Quartettsatz’, D703, a single movement of his projected but unfinished twelfth quartet, with his final String Quartet in G major, D887.  In the Quartettsatz, the Dorics open with glassy determination, giving this miniature masterpiece great clarity and energy.  The final String Quartet in contrast comes it at over fifty minutes, and is a mighty challenge.  Again, the Dorics attack this with high energy, intensity and precision throughout.  There is high drama here, and despite the G major key, Schubert shifts between major and minor right at the start, highlighting the conflicting moods that run throughout the work.  The Dorics give the frequent tremolandi an edge of anxiety, and the slow movement is dark and mournful.  It is only in the Trio of the Scherzo that follows that there is any sense of calm, and the players relish the successive duet writing here.  But the finale dashes all this to one side, and in its relentless race to the finish, the players never lose attention to detail, whilst maintaining impressive intensity and energy to the last.  Catch them in the Brighton Festival, playing Haydn, Brahms & Adams (26 May).

Schubert, F. 2017. String Quartet in G major, String Quartet in C minor 'Quartettsatz'. 

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, April 2017)