Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Orion String Quartet :: Beethoven: Late String Quartets

A prestigious American quartet gives a powerful, extravert r

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Orion are an experienced quarter with more than two decades stadning, and they hold a prestigious position in New York, teaching at the Mannes School and participating in the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society. In addition, it's rare for an American string quartet to record a complete Beethoven cycle -- as they complete each third, the Orions take it on tour. I heard some of the middle quartets in Santa Fe last summer. This latest recorded installment confirms what I heard then: this is a group of strong, assertive players whose approach is dramatic and extravert.



Assertiveness often implies flaws in intonaiton and ensemble, but that's not true here. The two Phillips brothers, Todd and Daniel, alternate first and second violin, each of them playing an exquisite Stradivarius. They blend beautifully, and although I hear a bit too much violin dominance, they lead a strong attack -- too much, I believe. Like the Emersons, the Orions are objectivists. They eschew subjectivity and don't feel that Beethoven is primarily a searching, profound explorer. They concentrate instead on technique, balance, power, and propulsion. That kind of interpretation attracts many listeners -- the Fanfare reviewer went wild over this set -- but for me the Orions are working upstream to no great purpose.



Since their approach isn't congenial to me -- it's almost crass, in fact -- I won't comment on each quartet in detail. I only wanted to give a fair assessment of what these late quartets sound like, in objective terms. Artistic judgment is left to each listener. The four-star rating is given in appreciation of the obvious quality of the whole enterprise. Personally, I will keep looking elsewhere."