SCHUBERT String Quartet No. 14, "Death and the Maiden" MENDELSSOHN
String Quartet No. 6, op. 80. Colorado Qrt. PARNASSUS PACD 96024 (66:29)
These are bold, expressive performances, superbly recorded. My current
Schwann Opus lists 35 recordings of Schubert's "Death and the Maiden"
Quartet (not counting multiple releases of the same performance, or the
many versions played by string orchestras) and only six of Mendelssohn's
Sixth (and last) Quartet. This is the first release to join the two on a
single disc. Better late than never, for this is a logical coupling.
Mendelssohn's work is from the final months of his life between his
collapse on hearing of the sudden death of his beloved sister Fanny
Mendelssohn Henselt, and his own death. The agitated minor-key writing
suggests a man preoccupied with thoughts of death, as is most certainly
the case with the more theatrical D-Minor Quartet of Schubert, with its
long set of variations on his popular song, Death and the Maiden. But
along with this emotional coincidence is the evidence that in both
string quartets, as is so often the case in the history of art, the
anguish of the creative genius leads to work of superb craftsmanship as
well as self-revelation. If one knew nothing of the personal
circumstances of the composers, and, in the case of Schubert, had no
idea whatever concerning the title or text of Matthias Claudius's poem,
the works would nevertheless claim attention and, indeed, awestruck
admiration.
Happily, the Colorado Quartet--Julie Rosenfeld and Deborah Redding,
violins; Francesca Martin Silos, viola; and Diane Chaplin,
cello--capture both the formal perfection and poetic expression of these
works. They are equally at home with Mendelssohn's ingenious
counterpoint and Schubert's unprecedented symphonic sonorities. Judith
Sherman supervised the recording of these performances in the Recital
Hall of the State University of New York at Purchase, the venue for many
fine recordings of chamber music. Fanfare's Leslie Gerber is the
impresario of Parnassus Records and the author of the musical
commentary. With the full disclosure of the fact that it will earn me
absolutely nothing, I urge all readers to buy one or more (think of your
friends!) copies of this extraordinary disc.
Robert McColley
Fanfare
July / August 2000