Search - Mendelssohn, Domus :: Piano Quartets

The best recording ever

Ryan Richards | Midland, MI United States | 04/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...okay, so I've never actually heard anyone else's interpretation of these quartets, but I don't know how anyone could ever do better than Domus does here. It's so easy to write Mendelssohn off as a precocious "salon music" composer, and thankfully Domus avoids this pitfall, instead imbuing their performances with a fire and passion I'd expect to find in Beethoven or even Brahms. The instruments are well-balanced, making the felicitious interplay between instruments crystal clear. In addition, the players make a special effort to match their playing styles to the style of each movement; hence, the dreamy intermezzo of the second quartet is a stark contrast to that quartet's fiery finale, which contrasts again with, say, the third quartet's fleet-footed scherzo. The brilliant, mature writing of these three quartets (Mendelssohn's earliest published works) serves to cement his amazing precociousness; after all, he wrote these adult-sounding works when he was twelve. Domus' mature, polished, ardently passionate playing of this music fits perfectly the abilities and talents of the prodigy who wrote it."