String Quartets, Vol. 3 Naxos 8.570003

Composer: Felix Mendelssohn
Ensemble: New Zealand String Quartet

Praised by The Gramophone for the ‘deep feeling’ of its playing on Volume 1 and hailed for ‘what promises to be an outstanding set’ (Vol. 2), the New Zealand String Quartet here completes its recording of all the Mendelssohn Quartets. The composer’s first essay in the form, a strikingly accomplished work by a fourteen-year-old, is presented alongside his personal favourite, the D major, Op. 44, No. 1. This last of the three Op. 44 Quartets to be written is notable for its suave Minuet and a particularly expressive Andante. In the Op. 81 Theme and Variations and Scherzo from the last year of his life melancholy and magic meet in typical Mendelssohnian manner.

String Quartets, Vol. 3 Review

Mendelssohn wrote his six numbered quartets through much of his mature life, choosing to ignore the work he had completed in his fourteenth year. Yet in this very happy and uncomplicated performance that student score has so much to offer in terms of enjoyment. Many other composers would surely have been glad to have owned it. It is also a score of some length clocking-in at almost half and hour. True it has its roots in Haydn and Mozart, but already shows a fresh and personal style, the fugue in the finale a long way from its academic title. Turn to the Third Quartet, composed fifteen years later, and you find a far more complex personality at work, the dark drama of the opening movement contrasting heavily with the calm of the two central movements and a buoyant finale. Two single movements, that would have been intended for a further work, complete the disc, the third and final volume in this cycle from the highly regarded New Zealand String Quartet. Some passing moments of questionable intonation detract little from their account of the Third Quartet, and their sound textures are open and transparent. A highly attractive budget price cycle well recorded. David Denton – David’s Review Corner

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