Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, American String Quartet :: Mozart: Complete String Quartets

High level of play and some extraordinary recordings

Sight Reader | Fort Collins, CO United States | 09/07/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some of the best recordings of Mozart chamber music ever made lie within these CDs. The recordings of K. 589, K. 499, and K. 387 manage to combine Mozart's elusive, deeply moving passion within an exterior of joy, sparkle, and perfection. Depending on your point of view, these interpretations may be the best modern instrument recordings on the market. However, it's the recording of K. 575 that is absolutely transcendent: I am hard pressed to think of a Mozart recording in ANY genre that has affected me as deeply as this one has, and I find myself playing it over and over, trying to stay in touch with the magic that it inspires.



As later CDs roll in with the pressure of an army of perfunctory early quartets, the American String Quartet manages to maintain an impressive level of clarity and elegance, but the strain of rehearsing (or maybe fighting over) so much subtlety begins to tell as that hidden joy and emotional intensity fades. The technical delivery in K. 590, the Dissonant, and K. 464 is still top notch, but emotionally speaking these recordings are merely competent, and I find myself fast forwarding through some of Mozarts uninspired early quartets.



Nevertheless, this set stands as an awesome achievement. Many of these CDs were sold separately, with Volumes I and III being truly extraordinary and Volume II still being quite impressive, which is what I would recommend to the thrifty music customer."

Delicacy AND Strength

Dace Gisclard | Houston, TX | 08/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the factors that makes Mozart so difficult is that the music is so transparent that EVERYTHING shows. If one screws up, there is always the comforting thought that it's ruined! The American String Quartet plays these treacherous masterpieces with absolute technical assurance-not a foot placed wrong.



Perhaps even more difficult is finding the right emotional temperature for works that combine the strength and delicacy of fine porcelain. If one miniaturizes, one gets simpering Dresden china, trivializing the music. If one becomes too vigorous, one disrupts the singing line--all of Mozart sings--even the instrumental works.



The American String Quartet fall into neither of these pitfalls-this is surely one of the best sets around. Interest is added by the fact that they play on a matched set of Stradivarius instruments, loaned to them for the recording. The sound is ravishing (as the composer said, "music should always be pleasing to the ear"). The phrases verge on articulate speech-there is a sense of a real musical conversation going on among the musicians of the Quartet.



There are many fine sets of these works available. I used to own the Melos set of the "10 great" quartets. Frankly, I thought they tended toward the Dresden china approach. The Quartetto Italiano was for a long time the "standard" set, but their sound is dated, and, to me, a bit shrill and lacking in lower overtones.



One of the greatest joys of American's set is that they give each work its proper expressive weight. Their performances of the later materpieces have depth without coarseness. The earlier works are played with a lighter, more divertimento-like touch-they don't "plumb the depths," but taken on their own terms, are perfectly delightful. This can't have been an easy balancing act to achieve!



The American String Quartet's set has solved all of these problems, while making it seem easy--that's what professionalism is. I won't be looking for another set of the Mozart string quartets anytime soon.



P.S. The notes by violist Daniel Avshalomov make entertaining reading, and give fascinating insights into the works themselves, and the difficulties the Quartet encountered in doing justice to each of them.



Although this item has been discontinued by the manufacturer, it is easy to obtain copies through MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY."