Search - Felix [1] Mendelssohn, Franz [Vienna] Schubert :: Epilogue

I love this album!

johnnyharang | Denver, CO USA | 04/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this album! I am such a big Miro Quartet fan now. I think this is by far the finest recording I know of the Mendelssohn and the Schubert just blows me away. The Miro and Matt are so committed and emotional. I love this album! I want more from the Miro!"

A remarkable schubert

roberto gutierrez | Binghamton New York | 04/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Miro is one of the finest young quartets around. So when this record came out I rushed to buy it. I have heard them live recently and was well aware of their musical commitment, their intelligence and honesty, combined with extraordinary technical polish, etc. So, when I heard the Mendelssohn, which opens the CD I was a bit surprised that the playing, while excellent, did not have the burnished sheen and complete interpretative insight I have heard from them in the past year. Mendelssohn switches the main theme rather suddenly from instrument to instrument, and in their youthful ardor,the Miro in the Mendelssohn, did not allow the main theme to be consistently clearly delineated. There was simply too much sound, with lesser harmonies overwhelming the hauptstimme (main theme.) It was all two-dimmensional for me. The octave sections, of which there were many, were not quite perfect, with not everyone agreeing as to what constitued a half step (tempered or not tempered, that is the question?) Nor did the slow movement have a clearly defined overall conception. The color pallette was also a bit too limited.The Schubert, on the other hand was magical. Intonation was extraordinary, with the two celli creating a drone like excitement that spoke of the impending death Schubert must have felt. The pizzicati were amazing, the pacing mature, etc. etc.
(I could have had the musicians "cry" more, but this is quibbling.)
This led me to look at the recording dates of the two works. This is where I discovered that the Mendelssohn was a more youthful effort, dating back to 2001. Then all became clear. The coupling was of the current mature Miro with a work-in-progress Miro -- the effort of an up and coming quartet. In retrospect, the Miro may have done better to record a second work reresenting their current level of playing, not where they were in 2001. One more comment: The engineering in both works favored the lower strings slightly with the first violinist getting a more diffused sound than the celli. With such a superb first fiddler like Ching, this was an unnecessary if slight detriment. Haimovitz playing, with it's emphasis on power is very reminiscent of Lynne Harrel's: burnished, unsentimental, and strong. but he could vary his sound more."