Search - Felix Mendelssohn, Melos Quartett :: Felix Mendelssohn: Die Streichquartette (The String Quartets)

Of the highest caliber

Avid Reader | Franklin, Tn | 01/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chamber music is usually considered differently than other classical music. In many ways it is not nearly as accessible as solo, voice or orchestral works due to its inherent intimacy. But it seems to have been a favorite with earlier generations and even today there are many who claim that chamber music is both a musical and intellectual exercise. This is especially true of this collection. Mendelssohn was a herald for the new Romantic movement, not quite out of the classical but not wholeheartedly into the new wave. This collection epitomizes that status - falling somewhere between the joy of Mozart, the classical possibilities of Beethoven and the arch Romanticism of Schumann and Brahms. Interpretations are truly magnificent, the individual parts crystal clear, phrasing perfect. But it not just in the technical aspects that they shine. The quartet manages to capture the essence of the music and provide an insight into an artist that evolved little during his lifetime. It has often been noted that his masterpiece ("A Midsummer Night's Dream") was composed at 19. Still, there are differences in the individual works. Compare, for example, the almost innocent melodies of Opus 12 (E Major) with the edgy tremulos of Opus 80 (F Minor). I have a decided preference for the minor over the major for the same reason that Rachmaninoff gave - the minor is far richer, more inventive and has more possibilities. The three pieces from Opus 44 almost put a lie to that, though, with their constant inventiveness. A must buy for music lovers."