This coupling makes a useful historical point. Schoenberg's apprentice string quartet owes much to the advice of Zemlinsky: yet Zemlinsky's own most ambitious and original work for the medium, dating from 1915, reflects influence rather than advice. It demonstrates the extent to which a fine composer could profit from knowledge of such a formidable model as Schoenberg's Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, without being totally submerged by it. And it is also in some respects a gesture of farewell. By 1915, Schoenberg's own music had moved on, into regions where Zemlinsky would never follow.
These performances by a quartet new to me have many good points, but they are up against strong competition. In the Schoenberg the Artis players are, in essence, brisk and business-like. If you put on the LaSalle version (DG) of the finale immediately after theirs, it sounds at first rather portly by comparison. But the LaSalle's broader tempo offers space in which to shape the music—something its witty and allusive surface needs if it is not to sound rather empty. And this basic difference is very apparent in the Zemlinsky.
The technical proficiency of the Artis Quartet is undeniable, but they seem more at home with the music's turbulence and polyphonic intricacy than with its lyricism and harmonic richness. This is a fast, rather one-dimensional performance, whose unflagging momentum leads to a flattening-out of expression. Many of Zemlinsky's specific requests for an intensification of mood receive only perfunctory acknowledgement: directions like molto espressivo or gesangvoll at one extreme, and wild und verhetzt at the other go for too little. And for all their determination to keep the music moving they can't prevent the rather sprawling finale section from sounding episodic.
In all respects, the LaSalle Quartet performance on DG remains superior. The playing is spontaneous and responsive, breathing with the music. It may come close to over-emphasis in places, but its variety of mood, and the conviction with which the grand one-movement design is conveyed, are outstanding. The DG sound has more warmth and body than the new Orfeo: it may not be as clear, but it suits the music very well.'