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 [log in to unmask]