Search - Franz Schubert, Stephan Goerner, Carmina Quartet :: String Quartets

Splendid Schubert, Splendid Carmina

J. Lambie | LA, CA | 10/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered chamber music relatively late in my life. It's not that I was unaware of it but rather that I chose to ignore it. As Chuang Tzu says, "Seeing happens in an instant. Opening the eyes can take a hundred years." It was a recording of the Schubert Opus 100 Trio that woke me. I then spent a ton of money collecting piano trios. Then came quartets and quintets and so on. Along the way, I acquired 9 versions of the D.887. Over the years, it became my favorite Schubert. I have no expertise in music so I won't try to review the composition. It just speaks to me in ways that are profound and inexplicable. Last year (2003), as I was adding to my Dvorak, I came upon the Carmina Quartet. Their renditions of the Dvorak Op. 96 and 105 were breathtaking. I immediately began chasing down their other recordings which are, unfortunately, largely out of print. All that I have acquired are outstanding and their D.887, now my tenth version of this piece, is splendid. Along with the interpretation by the Panocha Quartet, it has become one of my two favorites; the Panocha is exquisitely and lyrically beautiful while the Carmina exploits every element of mystery, drama and tension. If you are fond of this piece or unaware of the Carmina Quartet, you have a treat in store for you."