プリズムIV

気鋭の弦楽四重奏団による注目のシリーズの第4弾

「プリズム」は、バッハのフーガ、ベートーヴェンの四重奏曲とその後に活躍した作曲家の作品を組み合わせる、グラミー賞にもノミネートされたデンマーク弦楽四重奏団によるプロジェクトです。シリーズ最後から2番目となる第4弾の今回は、ウィーンの作曲家、エマヌエル・アロイス・フェルスターにより弦楽版に編曲された、バッハの『平均律クラヴィーア曲集』第1巻からの「フーガ ト短調」と、ベートーヴェンの弦楽四重奏団Op.132にメンデルスゾーンの弦楽四重奏曲第2番(1827年)の組み合わせ。音楽評論家のポール・グリフィスはこれらの曲が「デンマークの演奏者たちのこの上ない才気と正確さで、すべてがさらに素晴らしいものに聞こえてくる」と書いています。
歴史的なコンサートホール(ノイマルクトのReitstadel)で録音されたこのアルバムは、デンマーク弦楽四重奏団のアメリカ、ヨーロッパへのツアーに合わせて発売されます。
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

In the Prism series being issued by the Danish String Quartet, a late Beethoven quartet is the "prism"; it refracts the influences of a Bach fugue and in turn influences a later work. One can nibble around the edges of this concept with criticism, but theres no doubt that it helps capture a slice of the years around 1825, when Bachs music was just coming into general circulation, and younger composers were struggling to deal with the example of late Beethoven (which the Quartet members accurately term "mind-blowing"). The Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13, is the find here. The work by the 17-year-old Mendelssohn is not terribly often performed, and one can understand why. Although the quartet is not overlong, the works thematic material cant quite support its structure. The second movement is diffuse. But to Mendelssohns credit he struggled with Beethovens example much more than other composers of the day, possibly excepting the then-unknown Schubert. Traces of Beethovens String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, are all over Mendelssohns piece. He could of course not match Beethoven, but great interest lies in the way he tried. Mendelssohn baldly sets big blocks of contrasting material against each other, as in Beethovens staggering middle movement, and his finale has very much the dark, impelled quality of Beethovens. In the Beethoven Op. 132 quartet itself, the players are straightforward; the depths of this work seem to call for a little less Nordic dryness, but the quartets reading fits with the overall progression of the album. ECM contributes really sterling sound from the Reitstadel Neumarkt in a release that is ideal for a deep dive into the early 19th century. ~ James Manheim