Eroica Spotted Today at Borders
ESH Tooter
my wife. I had borrowed hers (I think it was June) and I was determined to pay
my debt. Well, Borders is just a few steps beyond Circuit City.
I'm not sure why I was looking in Schumann, but I was nearly knocked over
seeing a CD of the Eroica Quartet playing all three Quartets of Schumann. I
have not seen mention of this anywhere. I shouldn't have bought it. At present
my pile runneth over. I shouldn't, but I did. I know there are other Eroica
fans in this NG who will understand my plight.
At this moment, I have only listened through #1, and I'm not disappointed.
First impression is that this is somewhat less sharply etched than the St.
Lawrence, but no less energized. The Eroica also seemed more mysterious in the
Adagio - wonderfully so. These are recollections only. I need to listen more.
This music is much less familiar to me than much else. I'm only coming to
learn recently how magnificent it can be.
Great cover on the CD BTW. It is a seascape with tall masted ships sailing to
the horizon by Casper David Friedrich. If you know Friedrich's almost surreal
landscapes, it may have some meaning to suggest that both the music and
performance match the painting.
Off to listen through #3.
Tooter
mt
<<This music is much less familiar to me than much else. I'm only
coming to
learn recently how magnificent it can be.>>
Sure. Many people don't know about the Schumann quartets. A few minutes
of Op. 41 #1 will convince any chamber music fan that this is music on a
very high level.
Thanks for the tip. I will investigate this recent release (I assume
it's recent).
Regards,
MrT
ESH Tooter
<< Sure. Many people don't know about the Schumann quartets. A few minutes
of Op. 41 #1 will convince any chamber music fan that this is music on a
very high level. >>
I'm coming to learn that.
Eroica's #3 was just as compelling as their #1 except, perhaps, for the last
movment which seemed weak. However, it will take additional listening to know
exactly how I feel and how it compares to the St. Lawrence. Perhaps I'll dig
out the Juilliard LPs again.
Tooter
K. Howson-Jan
edition (http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/).
Kang
ESH Tooter
Tooter
Simon Roberts
: Checked the review which was very brief. The final advice was, "buy both."
It often is....
I must confess this is music I don't know extremely well and I've not
heard a lot of recordings of it. But the last time I listened to a
recording of them - Hagen/DG - I remembered how good it had seemed the
first time I heard them (the much-maligned (around here, anyway) Melos Qt,
also DG). I bought the Eroica Quartet a bit over a week ago (somehow
Academy had a copy before anyone else), played it once, found the whole
thing disappointingly flat and tame (I wondered why I had liked the music
so much before)
and put it away. Your post encouraged me to sample it again and do spot
comparisons with the Hagens, the Melos and the St Lawrence disc (I wonder
why it's taken so long for the St Lawrence to show up in the UK?).
The Eroica Qt easily come in last out of this lot. Just about all that I
can say
positively about their playing here is that I like the sound of their
instruments, the relative lack of vibrato, and a few other HIP tricks that
they employ. But they strike me as a pretty dull bunch of musicians on
this outing. Partly it's a matter of tempo; for all that Canning comments
on their speed in the Sunday Times review, they're not particularly fast,
certainly not compared with the Hagen Quartet, who are faster overall in
each quartet and faster in all movements but two (sometimes strikingly so;
timings below assume the accuracy of the backs of the respective boxes,
but regardless, the differences are immediately obvious on listening):
Op. 41/1
Eroica: 8:39, 3:54, 5:51, 6:30
Hagen: 8:52, 3:51, 6:04, 5:50
Melos: 9:39, 3:32, 5:52, 6:27
St. L.: 9:51, 3:53, 6:29, 6:55
Op. 41/2
Eroica: 6:03, 7:54, 3:20, 6:58
Hagen: 5:22, 7:50, 3:08, 4:22
Melos: 6:00, 8:29, 3:17, 4:15
Op. 41/3
Eroica: 7:24, 6:42, 8:03, 6:57
Hagen: 6:58, 6:07, 7:46, 6:22
Melos: 7:49, 6:25, 8:36, 6:52
St. L.: 8:11, 6:45, 9:30, 7:05
Tempi don't tell you everything, of course. But sometimes they help:
compare the finale of 41/2, where the Eroica Qt are merely sort of fast
and the Melos are not only much faster but, thanks to their phrasing and
articulation, exuberant, witty and even mischievous as well. But then try
the finale of 41/3; where the Eroica Qt shape/balance/articulate those
repeated opening phrases exactly the same each time (and articulate each
one pretty uniformly and dully to begin with), and the other three
(including the Melos at essentially the same tempo) not only vary them to
connect them into an interestingly shaped sentence (or paragraph or
whatever), but also play each phrase more interestingly to begin with. Or
try op. 41/3/2, marked "assai agitato"; the Hagens come closest to
complying with what I think those words should convey, but even at much
the same tempi as the Eroica, the Melos and St. Lawrence do a better job
- again, a matter of phrasing and articulation that has nothing whatever
to do with HIP and everything to do with the imagination of the players
involved.
I haven't done detailed comparisons in each movement (and, since it's
usually easier to compare snippets of fast movements than slow movements,
I've not compared those at all) but I rather suspect these differences
will be fairly constant. Out of this lot, the Hagen Qt wins quite easily,
I would say (this is Schumann in the manner of fierier and more
spontaneous-sounding pianists such as Argerich and Gieseking), with the
Melos honorable runners-up. The Hagen would all have fitted on one disc
as well, obviously, but are instead spread across two - but anyone who
bites will get, as a "filler", their superb performance, with Paul Gulda,
of the piano quintet (which is doubtless too fast for some, but, well, too
badÉ).
Simon
mt
have the Melos and the Hagen, and some historical recordings of isolated
quartets. My problem with the Melos is a certain harshness (asperity) of
string tone, and a recording that sounds too close. But they do play
with passion. I never thought I would find myself praising the Melos in
public (actually, I praised their Schubert on Harmonia Mundi, which I
loved on the radio without knowing who was playing. Surely my ears made
a mistake. Their Schubert can't be that good...). Well, modesty reigns
today.
Regards,
MrT
Philip Peters
ESH Tooter wrote:
Or the Italians. Not my favourite ensemble by any means but they do an eerie #1
and the others are very good too. Haven't heard the Eroica yet (sigh...so much
music, so little time, even less money)
Philip
mt
of Op. 41 #1 I heard many years ago by the great Bartok Quartet. I
thought there was a recording by them, but I never found it. Come to
think of it, I may have forgotten to look for it. Record-collecting is a
drag.
Regards,
MrT
ESH Tooter
I may come to agree with you - haven't finished my own samplings and
listenings. At this point, the juilliard was the clear winner in Op. 41-1. I
have to say that at the moment, the beauty of this performance, enjoyed two
nights ago, is still ringing in my ears. In 41-3 I was less overwhelmed by the
Juilliard which is not to imply at all that I was underwhelmed. It is just
that my recollection of the St. Lawrence in the 2nd and 3rd movements held up
well.
As to the Eroica, I'm not so down on them as you are, but I'm certain they
are not the final word. Their relatively vibrato-free playing does much to
make the modernity of this music clear. The boldness of the modulations and
dissonances is amazing, and in the Eroica, none of it is softened by romantic
lushness. While these may not be the recordings I turn to when I want to enjoy
these works, they have definitely extended my understanding and appreciation of
them.
Tooter