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Sat, 3 Mar 2001 23:00:00 +1100 |
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Peter Goldstein asks:
>Does anyone have an opinion on the Kronos Quartet recording of the
>Schnittke String Quartets? Any other recordings you'd recommend?
Having a great love of modern music I wish I could give more decisive and
informed advice on this one. To my great shame I haven't heard this set
by the Kronos Quartet. Part of the excuse is; lame though it may be, given
that this is the only complete cycle of quartets I am aware of; is that I
do not always find the Kronos Quartet the most powerful interpreters of
music. Their Webern for example sounds a bit too dry for my taste. Still
all credit to them for recording this set.
If you are a fellow modern music lover who is receptive to this sort of
release then by all means go ahead and buy it, as there is no competition,
if it is indeed a complete cycle you are after. Also the fact that you are
enquiring about it suggests that it is readily available to you. That is
a plus because a good many releases of contemporary music come from very
obscure sources. Many of these publishers only barely make ends meet or
consider an enterprise a success if they recoup their loses. That's why
I think its important to support this sort of thing.
However if you are just curious about Schnittke's chamber music, and you
are only a brief visitor to such shores then I would like to recommend a
different release from the Borodin SQ is much more highly recommended.
I see it is available in the US:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000025TVH/classicalnetA/
This contains a beautifully communicative performance of the 3rd Quartet.
The Piano Quintet that comes coupled with it is also excellent. The filler
is a really fascinating unfinished Quartet Movement by Mahler. As with
Shostakovich the Borodins do a brilliant job of advocacy. They really make
this music 'theirs' and play it with an 'authenticity' I doubt that other
quartets will readily match. Then there is the sheer musical prowess of
this awesome quartet. I once heard the Borodins play the 3rd Quartet live
together with die Grosse Fuge and Shostakovich 8th, and I can reassure you
they were remarkable. Interestingly, the opening 4 notes of die Grosse
Fuge are D-Eb-C-B natural: in German DSCh, for D SCHostakovich.
Shostakovich's name is invoked in the Schnittke work. It is only
appropriate that the Borodins were close to both these key Russian
composers.
The other highly recommended top notch performance of a Schnittke string
quartet is that of the 4th from its dedicatees, the Alban Berg SQ.
Unfortunately at the moment it appears to be only available as part of
a (otherwise fascinating) 4 CD set of 20th century string quartets:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.asp?pfid=1169798
This performance has a reputation for being much closer to being
'definitive' than the Kronos recording. Compared to the Kronos the
ABSQ are just in a different league when it comes to music making.
I sincerely hope I have been of some help. Are there any avid Schnittke
fans out there with strong views...? If so I am 'all ears'! I would be
particularly appreciative myself if I could be directed to some really
worthwhile music by this composer I haven't heard yet.
Satoshi Akima
Sydney, Australia
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