COMPOSERS: Berg,Urbanner,Webern
LABELS: Teldec
WORKS: String Quartet, Op. 3; Lyric Suite.Five Movements for String Quartet; Six Bagatelles for String Quartet; String Quartet, Op. 28.String Quartet No. 3
PERFORMER: Alban Berg Quartet
CATALOGUE NO: 3984-21967-2 ADD 1974/76
The Alban Berg Quartet responds with imagination and finesse to the mercurial mood-changes of the two masterly quartets by the composer after whom it is named. Perhaps the performances are not quite as secure as those by the same ensemble in its early-Nineties incarnation, for EMI. But this disc offers much greater value for money, adding to the two Berg works some intensely expressive Webern, and a dramatic little Quartet by the contemporary Austrian Erich Urbanner. Why, though, does Teldec think this music doesn’t need any booklet notes? Anthony Burton
Berg, Webern, Urbanner
The Alban Berg Quartet responds with imagination and finesse to the mercurial mood-changes of the two masterly quartets by the composer after whom it is named. Perhaps the performances are not quite as secure as those by the same ensemble in its early-Nineties incarnation, for EMI. But this disc offers much greater value for money, adding to the two Berg works some intensely expressive Webern, and a dramatic little Quartet by the contemporary Austrian Erich Urbanner. Why, though, does Teldec think this music doesn’t need any booklet notes? Anthony Burton
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:29 pm