This is one of the most interesting chamber programmes to come my way in many a month and the lustrous-sounding Netherlands-based Daniel Quartet do it full justice. The major find is Ambroise Thomas's engagingly tuneful E minor Quartet, a real period curiosity that employs a genuine melodic gift in the service of a confident fairly conventional structure. The pensive first movement is elegantly turned, with palpable echoes of Mendelssohn and Beethoven and a delightfully operatic second subject, the second movement anticipates Smetana-style modulations (at say, 0'44'') while the third includes some delightfully balletic pizzicato writing (at, for example, 2'31'') and the finale could easily transform into a coloratura aria. Thomas composed the work at around the time that he won the Prix de Rome (1832), and its portfolio contemporaries also include a quintet, a piano trio, piano pieces and a Requiem—all of them works that could also benefit from an occasional airing.
Gounod's talent for instrumental composition is far better known than Thomas's, and his A minor Quartet displays a more obvious indebtedness to Beethoven, not only in mood but in the gritty manner of its musical arguments. The score's most memorable movement is placed second, a Brahmsian-sounding Allegretto quasi moderato that could easily serve as an encore in its own right. However, the programme's strongest component is the E flat Quartet by Lalo, with its typically dextrous rhythmic writing and an immediate melodic appeal that should win the work many friends: try either the work's very opening or its cleverly ambiguous, vaguely Spanish-sounding Vivace, both of which provide excellent sampling points.
The Daniel Quartet, which was formed in 1974, originally hailed from Israel but is now resident in The Netherlands. It's a group with a future, of that I'm sure—certainly on the evidence of this showing, which reveals a winsome tone (which very occasionally strays off the notes), admirable agility and impressive keenness of attack. The recordings, although pleasingly homogeneous tend to vary from work to work, but none is less than good and the programme as a whole represents both a breath of fresh air and a sure signal that there could (and indeed should) be more where this came from. Strongly recommended with the low price serving merely as an extra incentive.'