Exquisite miniaturist that he was, Grieg managed to leave a sublime string quartet together with an almost complete work in the genre; both reveal the beauty and sublimity of his best music. The First Quartet is marked as Op. 27 and is four movements; rather it recalls the unpublished symphony that Grieg suppressed. The opening movement has a wonderfully vivid Allegro molto ed agitato that is balm to the ears; indeed it remains one of my favorite quartet movements. The same could be said of the mercurial Romanza, an exquisite movement full of memorable tunes and passionate melodies. This deeply felt music is matched by the whimsical Intermezzo and a blistering Finale almost in the mood of Mendelssohn's 'Italian' Symphony with its 'Saltarello' markings. Dvorakian supremos, the Chilingarian turn out what may well be a definitive performance of this work with splendid tonal plushiness and immense technical wizardry, they are captured in the intimate acoustic of the Bristol Town Hall, which really helps, for a lively performance.

With the Second Quartet, it is more a case of what might have been although the structural framework and essential melodies are there just the same. The job of reconstructing this work is explained in detail by Levon Chilingirian who espouses on the difficulty and challenge of performing the last two movements in an exemplary booklet note. The masterly first movement is brilliantly played with a direct 'attacca' consistently apparent and a really beautiful coda, sublime Grieg this one. Of course, one can only lament the mystery of Grieg's decision to leave the quartet unfinished for the fragments that make up the final movements indicate that there were some novel ideas there. Still, we should rest content with what we have as the music recorded here is wonderful nonetheless. The only real comparison to this excellent CD is the Oslo Quartet's characterful performances on Naxos but if pressed to choose, I would opt for the oneness and corporate vision of the Chilingirian who lend these magical scores a certain air of authority.

Reviewer

Gerald Fenech

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