‘Played on a Matched Set of Stradivarius Instruments’, it says on the box, and indeed these performances are a model of uniformity of sound – some of the best-balanced and best-blended quartet playing I can remember hearing. The warm, clear recorded sound, too, captures in detail all the intimate quality of the musical utterance.
The American Quartet has a pretty good idea of Mozartian style; it certainly appreciates the advantage of keeping Andantes and minuets moving – the graceful lightness of K590’s Andante and the vivacious Minuet of K575 are entirely persuasive. Many of the fast movements are equally fine – the witty finale of K170 sounds delightfully poised and humorous, and the quartet’s seemingly effortless ensemble allows it to negotiate the most tricky passages in the last movement of K499 without any sense of strain. A more dangerous virtue, perhaps, is that nothing sounds exaggerated. The Quartetto Italiano achieves a far greater degree of dramatic contrast, though sometimes at the risk of making the music sound excessively fierce. The contrast can be heard very clearly in the opening Allegro of K590 – the Quartetto Italiano playing with brilliant concerto-style panache, the American much more refined, elegant and intimate in tone. The fugue at the end of K168 is given by the Italiano with the same sort of intensity it brings to Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, whereas the American sees it as a precursor of the bubbling moto perpetuo finale of Haydn’s Lark Quartet. In the disturbed first movement of K173, the early D minor Quartet, the Italiano’s more forceful style has a decisive advantage; elsewhere, in many of the minuets, for instance, the American’s less insistent observance of the fortes makes the Italiano sound very heavy by comparison. The Eder Quartet’s admirably unaffected performances often show a grace and eloquence in the shaping of the phrases that few other groups can rival. In the fugal finale of the K173 its natural phrasing of the different motifs scores over the Italiano’s sternness and the excessively smooth American approach. Even when the Eder chooses a sluggish tempo, as for K172’s minor-key Andante, it manages to shape the music’s rise and fall persuasively. Here, the American Quartet, despite a better speed, fails to inflect the music expressively, relying (inappropriately, I feel), on intensity of tone. And there are quite a lot of places where I found myself wishing for a little bit more spontaneity, a more heart-on-sleeve approach to expression. This is particularly the case where the leader becomes a soloist, as in the slow movement of K170, but even in the wonderfully neat, pointed account of K590’s finale I missed something of the Italiano’s no-holds-barred attitude.
In order to squeeze 23 works on to six discs, as opposed to eight for the listed comparisons, the American Quartet is very parsimonious about repeats. In recent years, groups such as The Lindsays have demonstrated that there’s a lot to be gained by taking even the longest repeats in the most expansive later works. Whilst not expecting every repeat all the time, certain omissions are particularly damaging. The American leaves out far more repeats in the 13 earlier works, exaggerating their slightness, often destroying the balance between movements and sometimes disrupting the musical argument. In the compact exposition of K168’s first movement, the 17-year-old Mozart juggles a number of different motifs with surprising maturity, and without the balancing effect of hearing the music twice, we’re left feeling slightly confused.
Putting aside this reservation, this is a very impressive set. On sound quality it scores decisively over the Eder Quartet (the Naxos recordings are variable, tending to sound cavernous). The American’s technical polish puts it in the top league alongside the Quartetto Italiano, and, at its best, the playing is irresistible.
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