Jerusalem Quartet BÉLA BARTÓK String Quartets Nos. 1, 3 & 5

 

STRING QUARTETS Nos. 1, 3 & 5

Jerusalem Quartet HAYDN

Called one of the most dynamic and exciting young quartets of the new millennium, the Jerusalem Quartet's first recording for France's Harmonia Mundi label of three Haydn string quartets is certainly dynamic and exciting. Whether that's what one wants in performances of Haydn's string quartets is open to debate. The Jerusalem's intonation is impeccable, its ensemble is agile, and its rhythm is driven and all that is just fine. One could easily imagine its approach working in the string quartets of later composers. But the Jerusalem's interpretations of Haydn's string quartets are too histrionic and the tempos too rhapsodic. The Lark Quartet, Op. 64/5, is too fleet and too whimsical, the tempos flitting, and the phrasing precious. The Quinten Quartet, Op. 76/2, is too harsh and too hard, the tempos pushing forward at climaxes and pulling back immediately after. The Op. 77/1 is too nostalgic and too sentimental, the tempos too loose, and the phrasing close to cloying. The Jerusalem's expressive approach to interpretation might work splendidly in Janácek, but it's too much for Haydn, a composer who was never precious, harsh, or sentimental. Harmonia Mundi's digital sound is lush and enveloping, but clear and clean. (James Leonard)

Jerusalem Quartet SCHUBERT Der Tod und das Mädchen

The Jerusalem Quartet has established a fine reputation for insightful interpretations and incisive playing, and its polished recordings for Harmonia Mundi are well worth investigating for their acute and passionate performances. This compelling recording of Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, "Death and the Maiden," D. 810, and the String Quartet No. 12 in C minor, "Quartettsatz," D. 703, is utterly exciting from start to finish, not just for the powerful suspense that the ensemble builds, or only for the intense energy it brings to these brooding Romantic works, but also for the foreboding mystery and haunted feeling with which it imbues this dark, death-obsessed music. If these late string quartets were intended to send a few chills up the spine, then the Jerusalem Quartet has found the right tone and edginess for Schubert's grim expressions, and the ensemble's tight rhythms, sharp articulation, and breathtaking speed combine to great effect in both performances. While some listeners will undoubtedly prefer vintage recordings by more seasoned quartets, this 2008 release bespeaks the Jerusalem Quartet's freshness, vitality, and firm mastery, despite not having much of a track record yet in Schubert; though this disc may not have the status of established classics, it promises great things to come. Harmonia Mundi's reproduction is clean, crisp, and quite spacious. (Blair Sanderson)

Jerusalem Quartet JANÁCEK String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2 SMETANA String Quartet No. 1

There is much to admire here from the excellent Jerusalem Quartet. In Smetana’s First Quartet there is the fine opening viola melody; the sensitively played Largo, heart of a tragic work; and, brilliantly done, the sense of panic in the succeeding Vivace that plunges towards the dreadful moment when the first violin’s high E – though this could have been more piercingly played – signals the cruel tinnitus symptom of the syphilis that was wrecking Smetana’s life. The slow movements of the Janáček quartets are also carefully and thoughtfully played. The First Quartet’s Con moto is veiled with sadness, and with a sense of the danger threatening from the sinister seducer of the Tolstoy programme inspiring the work; the Second Quartet’s Adagio is inward and quietly reflective, and sustains something of its mood to shadow the succeeding Moderato, which is taken almost as a pensive valse triste.

Something of the abruptness, even violence, that characterises Janáček’s Second Quartet is lacking, as with the desperate interventions in the third movement. So is the sense of dance that permeates all three quartets, with the polka impetus in Smetana’s Allegro moderato and the Allegro of Janáček’s Second. This is something that is often latent elsewhere, and is especially effective in animating the music in the performances by the Vlach (Panton) and Talich (Supraphon) quartets, still outstanding records. The present recordings are generally excellent, and effective in capturing all the unusual, not to say eccentric effects which Janáček wishes upon his players and the long-suffering recording engineers. (John Warrack / Gramophone)

Jerusalem Quartet LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartets Op. 18

With Haydn, Mozart and Schubert under their belt, it was only a matter of time before the Jerusalem Quartet turned their attention to Beethoven. Their only previous taster was a recording of Op 18 No 6, coupled with Ravel and Dvořák, from more than a decade ago. As you’d expect from this group, personality, integrity and lustrous tone are all high on the agenda. The slow movement of No 1, for instance, is given at a relatively brisk pace, avoiding all temptation to over-romanticise it; but, by making the chugging accompaniment relatively prominent, there’s a sense of unease as the melody struggles to make itself heard. They are alive to the drama of Beethoven’s all-important silences too.

Others may find more extremes in this set of quartets. The third movement of the Third can sound more febrile – as the Takács ably demonstrate in the Trio, with its sharply pointed hairpin dynamics – while in the finale of the same work the Jerusalem are a touch gentler than the Takács, the irrepressible Lindsays and the supreme Hungarian Quartet, while the Talich (on Calliope) put more emphasis on a sense of wistfulness. The Jerusalem’s Fourth Quartet is a particular highlight, from the irresistibly characterful viola-playing, a first-movement development full of fire and intensity and a third movement that seems to be paced just right, and in the coda of the finale they really throw caution to the wind, similar in approach to the thrilling Takács but with a more refulgent sound.

They capture well the very different worlds of each quartet, and the variation-form slow movement of No 5 is given with plenty of charm, the trill-infused fifth variation sounding truly unbuttoned. Even if the Hungarian are peerless here in the interplay between musicians in the chattering finale, the Jerusalem run them close, the ending warmly insouciant.

The Sixth Quartet certainly doesn’t lack for energy in the first movement, a whisper faster than the Takács and more gleeful than the Belcea. In the slow movement their characteristically rich tone again comes into its own, while the contrast between the finale’s mysterious opening and the ensuing Allegretto is potently conveyed. Add to that a wonderfully naturalistic recording and you have a triumphant addition to the bulging Beethoven catalogue. (Harriet Smith / Gramophone)

Jerusalem Quartet / Veronika Hagen / Gary Hoffman ANTONÍN DVORÁK String Quintet op. 97 - String Sextet op. 48

...With their founding in the 1993/1994 season and subsequent 1996 debut, the Israeli musicians embarked on a journey of growth and development that has resulted in a wide repertoire and a stunning depth of expression: a journey still motivated by the energy and curiosity with which the ensemble began. The Jerusalem Quartet carries on the string quartet tradition in a unique manner. The ensemble has found its inner center in a warm, full, human sound and the balance between high and low voices, giving it the freedom both to refine its interpretations of the classical repertoire and to explore the works of new genres and epochs—all the while striving for perfection of sound. Collaborations with exceptional musicians such as Martin Fröst, Steven Isserlis, Sharon Kam, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alexander Melnikov and András Schiff demonstrate clearly the ways in which the musicians benefit from their work, as each guest becomes an integral part of the indivisible ensemble.

The Jerusalem Quartet explores two aspects of Dvořák’s chamber music: one of the first big successes in the genre of a Bohemian composer who now enjoyed a well-established reputation in Europe (op.48), and one of the masterpieces from the years of American exile which brought him worldwide fame (op.97). A chance to discover two places, two periods, but always the same depth of expression in this indefatigable composer endowed with remarkable creative faculties.

Jerusalem Quartet BELÁ BARTÓK String Quartets Nos. 2, 4 & 6

The Jerusalem players open Bartók’s Second Quartet with a passionate account of the first movement, knitting its disparate elements into a satisfying whole, imbued with warmth and featuring some beautiful high keening from cellist Kyril Zlotnikov. The snarling, raucous second movement is shocking in its pagan intensity, and the mystery of the slowly unfolding finale is heightened by exemplary attention to Bartók’s markings. The first movement of the Fourth Quartet snaps away splendidly, with some wonderful muscular glissandos. The cellist shows his mettle again with a robust recitative at the opening of the third movement, with beautifully spectral playing from the other players to follow. The pizzicato fourth movement is full-bodied, perhaps a little too much so when Bartók asks for quiet. In the finale the players are too wise and musical to treat every fortissimo as an attack (as some do), and there is beauty and sophistication to match the energy.

In the Sixth Quartet the playing is clear and limpid in the first movement; the Marcia and Burletta are by turns rhythmically crisp and low-down louche. The plaintive last movement is simply done and affecting. These are fine performances, shot through with beauty. The recording is close-miked and resonant. (Tim Homfray)

A whole life in three quartets
The string quartets of Béla Bartók punctuate the evolution of his style and the turning points of his existence. From the Second Quartet (1915-17) reflecting the period of World War One and his troubled personal life, through the Fourth whose exploration of rhythm, tonality and timbre produces magnificent and unprecedented sonorities in its ‘night music’, to the unbearable anguish of the Sixth (1939), as his dream of fraternity was shattered against the rise of nationalism and fascism, the Jerusalem Quartet’s programme brings us the essence of the Bartókian genius.