COMPOSERS: Tchaikovsky
LABELS: CRD
ALBUM TITLE: Tchaikovsky
WORKS: Souvenir de Florence; String Quartet
PERFORMER: Endellion Quartet; Tim Boulton (viola),Robert Cohen (cello)
CATALOGUE NO: 3502
There’s irresistible joie de vivre in
this performance of Souvenir de
Florence. The Endellion is clearly fired
up by the two extra string partners,
and the ensemble conveys the kind
of spontaneous enjoyment that only
comes from the best chamber music
playing. On an interpretative level,
the Endellion’s almost classical
detachment works particularly well,
bringing much-needed clarity to the
quasi-orchestral textures.
With a finely balanced recording
to boot, this version of Souvenir
compares more than favourably with
the much acclaimed 1993 recording
from the expanded Borodin Quartet
(on Elatus, reviewed in May). In
Quartet No. 3, however, the Borodins
are a hard act to follow. All credit to
the Endellion for taking a different
approach – more intense in the playful
Scherzo, and in the funereal slow
movement observing the composer’s
con moto marking at the expense of
the heart-on-sleeve approach adopted
by the Russians. Which of these two
interpretations one chooses depends
to a certain extent on whether one
feels a generally cooler response to the
music enhances its qualities. In the
first movement, I personally prefer the
Borodin’s expansive and extravagant
conception, but at the same time
admire the Endellions for their
ability to effect a convincing, almost
Beethovenian integration between the
different sections. Erik Levi
