Nielsen's String Quartet in G minor, Opus 13 was composed soon after he
graduated from the conservatory. It is more romantic in nature than Opus
5, but the issue of performing in a romantic versus more forward looking
manner still applies. The first movement has an Allegro Energico tempo,
and I emphasize Energico because of the Zapolski's reading. I listened to
them first and their performance is certainly romantic, tender, and quite
lovely. But are those qualities what this movmement is all about? And what
happened to the energy in the music?
The above questions are answered by the Kubin Quartet. They begin strongly
and display great forward drive and urgency. They even apply fine urgency
to the more tender passages. Their reading is rugged, strong, forward, and
rustic. The Kubin Quartet also does not slight the poignant and lyrical
sections. I think that the Kubin possess the pulse and heart of the music;
the Zapolski venture into a more generic environment - it isn't necessarily
Nielsen.
The Kontra Quartet, to its credit, delivers some decent drive and
ruggedness. However, its sound is "fat" and romanticized, and there's no
sense of rustic qualities. The Kontra's cover photograph shows a rustic
homesite, but this performance sounds more like it comes from a posh
reception room in downtown Manhattan.
The Kubin Quartet has strong competition from the Danish and Oslo Quartets
which display most of the same superb qualities. They have in common an
innate sense of the rugged, rustic, and somewhat forward looking nature of
the movement.
I am disappointed with the Vertavo Quartet's reading and find it worse
than the Zapolski's. Although I think the Zapolski took the wrong road,
they do what they do very well. The Vertavo can't manage even that.
The performance is *very* romantic, almost dripping with the stuff. They
make the Kontra Quartet sound modernistic. What makes the Vertavo's the
worst version, though, is that the music making isn't even beautiful.
The Vertavo has managed to romanticize a piece of music and remain
surface-bound; that's quite a feat. There's little of Nielsen in this
interpretation.
The second movement, Andante amoroso, begins in E flat major with a stately
and lovely theme; the second theme, in G minor, is agitated and urgent.
The ending has a swaying and serene quality that's highly effective. As in
the first movement, the Oslo Quartet is fully idiomatic with a finely paced
reading which has plenty of edge and ruggedness to it. The Kontra Quartet
is melodic but not very incisive; their second theme is particularly weak
and overly rounded, although the ending is delicious. The Danish Quartet
is surprisingly generic and equally as bland as the Kontra. The Kubin
Quartet is better, but still lacking in incisiveness. The Vertavo and
Zapolski Quartets strongly project the first theme and use heavy accenting
in the second theme; their versions are certainly the most exciting and the
endings have a wonderfully mysterious aura. The Vertavo eschew the heavy
romanticism of the first movement, and the Zapolski have plenty of energy
this time.
Choosing among the Oslo, Vertavo, and Zapolski Quartets is no easy matter.
The Oslo provide the most uplifting first theme. The Vertavo are very
special in the second theme with a thrilling performance; this second theme
can be magical and forward looking music. The Zapolski are just as daring
and exciting as the Vertavo; these are the two best versions of the second
movement.
The third movement, Scherzo. Allegro molto, has an energetic and powerful
first theme. The second theme is pure gold; it starts off swaying
peacefully with a pulsating bass, then ends with an outpouring of all
that is good and glorious. The Oslo Quartet is right on target throughout
the movement, and their way with the second theme is magical. The Danish,
Kontra, and Kubin Quartets do very well; they just can't match the Olso
with that conclusion to the second theme. The Zapolski are enjoyable,
but their energy level is low in the first theme. The Vertavo occupy the
cellar as their second theme is not memorable. I can't recommend highly
enough the Oslo's third movement; they tell a great story with a majestic
ending.
The final movement, Allegro inquieto, has the interesting feature
of incorporating the first themes of the first and third movements
into the music for a sense of cyclic balance. The movement begins in a
demonstrative fashion and generally holds that manner. This time, the Oslo
Quartet misses the mark; their reading glosses over the depth of emotion
in the music. And to my great surprise, the Kontra Quartet gives life to
the music to a degree which escapes the Oslo; this is the Kontra's best
performance of the first two string quartets. The Vertavo and Zapolski
Quartets do no better than the Oslo and are also too quick. The Kubin and
Danish Quartets slow it down a little to good effect, but the Kontra are
more into the core of the music; theirs is the version of choice.
Summary for String Quartet Opus 13:
The Kubin Quartet gives another excellent performance, only yielding
slightly to the Oslo Quartet. The Kubin's disc is definitely a must-buy
recording of Nielsen's Opus 5 and 13. They have a few transcendent
performances and never give less than a fine interpretation. I hope very
much that they record the remaining string quartets, for this group has
found the soul of Nielsen's music (imho).
The Vertavo's disc gets mixed results. Their Opus 5 is superb, but their
Opus 13 is not successful except for a great second movement. I'd suggest
sampling the first movement of Opus 13; if you like the results, the disc
should be very rewarding.
I would like to mention that the Kontra Quartet performs much better in
Opus 13 than 5. It will be interesting to see how they handle the two
most recent Nielsen string quartets.
For the remainder of the survey, it's just the four full sets for review.
At this point, the Danish and Olso Quartets are giving me the more
idiomatic performances which means they are rugged and rustic without
slighting the poetry of the works.
Don Satz
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