The appearance of this new EMI disc (with notes by the present reviewer) brings into focus the interpretative rivalry of the Alban Berg and Schonberg Quartets in Berg's two masterpieces for the medium.
There's an obvious difference in sound quality. The Koch Schwann performances, recorded in 1985, are warm yet intimate, the ensemble homogenous to a fault: so well-blended, in fact, that clarity of detail occasionally suffers in the interests of a well-rounded whole. By comparison EMI offer a much broader perspective, the four players more forward and more distinct. Here details may at times seem too intrusive for the good of an integrated interpretation, and the concern to make every emotional nuance tell risks spilling the music over into melodrama. The performances don't invariably conform to this model—the Schonberg Quartet sound heavier at the start of the Lyric Suite's finale—but in general the Berg Quartet probe the extremes of the music more determinedly, and their unfailingly bright sound can seem larger than life when set against the Schoenberg's relative reticence.
Choice comes down to personal preference, including preferring to live with both approaches. Op. 3, in particular, is hugely impressive in both readings, though one small difference should be noted. A few bars into the second movement Berg marks a tempo, aber breiter (''more broadly''). Here the Schonberg Quartet (and the Kronos) push ahead, whereas the Berg (and the Arditti) observe a more appropriate expansiveness. Such matters aside, all four versions of Op. 3 have points in their favour, though in a straight comparison of recordings of Op. 3 and the Lyric Suite together I find the Arditti the least persuasive on grounds of style.
There's no doubting the emotional power of this new EMI recording. Only if you feel it goes over the top are you likely to have an outright preference for the Schonberg's less forceful brand of musical poetry. '