Search - Korngold, Flesch Quartet :: Korngold's Complete String Quartets

A "must buy" for Korngold lovers

Dace Gisclard | Houston, TX | 01/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yet again Brilliant Classics has placed us in its debt with this invaluable compilation. These are the same performances that have been available on ASV. The notes are by Korngold biographer Brendon G. Carroll. They might have been more carefully proofread, but this is quibbling. It is extremely useful to have these performances in an integral compilation, and for Korngold enthusiasts, this will be a "must buy."



Until now, the Flesch Quartet was unknown to me. (Doubtless the name refers to the violinist Carl Flesch, with Artur Schnabel, one of the dedicatees of the "Violin Sonata.") Despite the German name, the personnel are Brits, and prizewinning graduates of the Royal Academy. They bring all the technical finish and poise to their performances that the standards of that institution imply. They also bring the necessary passion, charm, sensuality, beauty of tone, intellectual rigor, and an appropriate theatrical sense to Korngold's Jugendstil idiom.



The rarely-recorded Sextet enhances the desirability of this set. This is an early work (the composer was 17!), but Korngold's unmistakable style, with its influences from Schmidt, Strauss and Zemlinsky, is already fully formed. Movements one and two are tortuously chromatic. The mood brightens for the third movement waltz and the high-spirited finale, recalling the extroversion of the "Sinfonietta".



The first Quartet is tougher and more dissonant, foretelling passages in his opera, "Das Wunder des Heliane". Korngold exploits minor seconds horizontally and vertically, but his melodic gift never deserts him. The finale lightens somewhat, recalling the "Hornpipe" of "Much Ado About Nothing."



For those new to the Korngold quartets, a good place to start is with the lightest and most immediately appealing--the lushly Viennese No.2. The Flesch mines more substance out of this work than I had hitherto suspected it had. However, they allow the lilt of the waltz finale full rein, stepping on no toes.



No.3 has patches of Schoenbergian atonality, foreshadowing the more astringent bits of the "Violin Concerto" and the "Symphony". However, these remain only patches--the music is tonal. Korngold uses atonality when it serves his purpose, but never becomes anyone's epigone. The slow movement is largely derived from his film score for "The Sea Wolf". Here, the understated mood of alienation and regret tugs at the heart. Again, the lighter finale suggests motifs of the "Hornpipe", but again Korngold finds fresh ways to use them.



Throughout these works, Korngold does not hesitate to avail himself of "orchestral" effects--pizzicato, multiple stops, ponticello, etc., creating a sonority that belies the small size of the ensemble. The chords in harmonics at the beginning of the slow movement of No.2 are particularly effective, especially when played so well in tune as they are here.



There have been other recordings of these quartets, but never (to my knowledge) an "integrale" at such an outrageous bargain price. The excellence of the performances, and the presence of the Sextet only add to the attractiveness of this set.



Korngoldians will be pre-sold. Lovers of Richard Strauss, Zemlinsky, Schmidt, Mahler, and other composers in the early 20th-century Viennese post-romanticism orbit need not hesitate!"

Korngold in a perfect way..

mucd_com | 03/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Â* Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): composer of Hollywood film music and best known for his opera Die tote Stadt. With his large symphonic Â`GermanÂ' scores he even set the tone for film music up to the present day. But this enormously talented Austrian musician has quite a lot more to offer.



Â* His three string quartets for instance. They are part of just a handful of chamber music compositions. Even in these quartets he managed to generate a Â`big soundÂ'. For some parts he even drew on themes he had originally composed for the screen. These notably solid compositions have a romantic tendency and are full of life.



Â* Unfortunately these lovable string quartets have not secured a place in the concert repertoire of today. One has to make do with these excellent recordings by the Flesch QuartetÂ....



Â* With the delightful string sextet as a generous bonus on the second CD.



CD 1

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD (1897-1957)

String Quartets complete 8549

in A major Op. 16 (1924)

1. Allegro molto 8:47

2. Adagio quasi Fantasia 9:56

3. Intermezzo 4:37

4. Finale, allegretto amabile e comodo 9:09

STRING QUARTET No.2

in E flat major Op. 26 (1934)

5. Allegro 6:02

6. Intermezzo, allegretto con moto 3:41

7. Larghetto 9:02

8. Waltz 5:42



Total: 57:31



THE FLESCH QUARTET

Philippa Ibbotson, violin 1

Mark Denman, violin 2

Robert Gibbs, viola

David Newby, cello

Ian Humphries, viola (Sextet)

David Bucknall, cello (Sextet)



CD 2

STRING SEXTET

in D major Op. 10 (1914/15)

1. Moderato-allegro 9:55

2. Adagio (Langsam) 10:10

3. Intermezzo (In gemässigten Zeitmass) 6:29

4. Finale (So rasch wie möglich) 6:43

STRING QUARTET No. 3

in D major Op. 34 (1945)

5. Allegro moderato 6:49

6. Scherzo, allegro molto 4:06

7. Sostenuto-like a folk tune 9:06

8. Finale, allegro con fuoco 5:35



Total: 59:27



THE FLESCH QUARTET

Philippa Ibbotson, violin 1

Mark Denman, violin 2

Robert Gibbs, viola

David Newby, cello

Ian Humphries, viola (Sextet)

David Bucknall, cello (Sextet)

"