Sergei Taneyev: String Quartets Nos. 2 and 6
California String Quartet
CENTAUR 358
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New classical music releases reviewed in detail by Gavin Dixon
Tuesday, 19 December 2017
TANEYEV String Quartets 2 and 6 California String Quartet
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This recording of Taneyev’s Quartets Nos. 2 and 6
comes hard on the heels of a complete cycle from the Carpe Diem String Quartet
on Naxos. In fact, the California String Quartet made their recordings in
2014–15, immediately before the release of the Carpe Diem’s Sixth, which
perhaps accounts for the new one being delayed until now. But it was worth the
wait, as these are excellent performances, and the California String Quartet
clearly has something new to say.
Prior to the Carpe Diem cycle, the only commercial
recording of these works was a complete cycle by the Taneyev Quartet, recorded
in Leningrad in the late 70s, and reissued on the Northern Flowers label in
2005. The Taneyevs and the Carpe Diem take contrasting approaches to the music:
the former broad, expansive, and Romantic, the latter brisker and more focused.
The California String Quartet sits somewhere in between, leaning closer to the
Carpe Diems, but generally adopting broader tempos and a warmer tone.
All the different versions are recorded in good
sound—some noise reduction on the Taneyev Quartet cycle gives an artificial
rounded quality to the sound, but it’s good for its age and provenance. Taneyev’s
music is often highly contrapuntal, so detail is required, especially from the
viola and cello. Although the lower instruments are presented in excellent
detail on the Carpe Diem release, this new version offers even greater clarity,
with a wide stereo separation—viola and cello on the right—and the viola (Zach
Dellinger) particularly prominent when required.
Taneyev also makes heavy demands on the violins, who
are often required to play with a weighty, broad tone, even in the highest
registers. The Taneyev Quartet manage this better than either of the more
recent competitors, but the sweetness of tone and blend of ensemble that the
California Quartet brings to the tuttis is compelling too, a more approachable
and involving sound, if not quite as dramatic. The California Quartet also
takes a stricter approach to phrasing than the Taneyevs, with phrase endings
sometimes sounding clipped, at least by comparison. The exception is the Adagio third movement of the Second
Quartet, which really benefits in the California reading from their combination
of long, flowing phrases, and rich, well-sustained sonorities. The California
Quartet also gives the most convincing reading of the Scherzo second movement. It’s
the slowest of the three accounts, but the clean, precise textures and the
incisive accents make it the most dynamic-sounding and vibrant.
The Sixth Quartet is Taneyev’s last work in the form
(Nos. 7–9 predate No. 1 and were published after his death), and after the Second
is the most accomplished of the cycle. Although of a similar length, it’s not
as expansive or symphonic as the Second, so the California Quartet’s dynamic
approach proves ideal. My generalization about tempos doesn’t hold for every
movement here: Of the three accounts, the California Quartet gives the slowest
accounts of the first, third, and fourth movements and the fastest of the
second. In comparison to the later accounts, the Taneyev Quartet’s Adagio serioso second movement is a real
outlier, a minute and a half longer than either of the others, but the California
Quartet demonstrates that a brisker tempo is ideal. This movement is the highlight
of the quartet, with a stately pavane-like melody over a steady walking bass,
much like the passacaglia movements in many of Taneyev’s other works. It is
given real shape by the California Quartet, and not just through the faster
tempo, but also the more disciplined phrasing and unity of ensemble.
This new account from the California String Quartet
can be easily recommended as a first choice for both works. All three accounts
are worth hearing though, and the Taneyev Quartet in particular brings
different qualities to the music: Taneyev balances Baroque counterpoint against
Romantic expression, and while the California and Carpe Diem bring out the
former, the Taneyev Quartet clearly inhabit that Russian Romanticism in a way
their American successors don’t. Perhaps the California Quartet are planning a
full cycle of their own, which would certainly be welcome. But even if it doesn’t
happen, they have done Taneyev’s fans a favor by coupling his two finest string
quartets together for the first time, and in readings that consistently match,
and often exceed, the competition.
This review appears in Fanfare magazine issue 41:4
This review appears in Fanfare magazine issue 41:4
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