Here are more Juilliard Quartet rarities plucked by Testament from the too-long-neglected treasure-trove of RCA’s back catalog. These stereo recordings were made in RCA’s studios in 1959, with a clarity and transparency that suits the Juilliard’s pinpoint playing. The Debussy benefits from the ensemble’s directness, forward movement, and removal of “impressionistic” haze from a work that sometimes can seem murky. Here, the changing landscape of the first movement is drawn with passion and the magical sensuousness of the Andantino presented with trance-like concentration. The virtuoso pizzicato interplay in the second movement is brought off with élan, and the brisk finale caps an excellent performance.
The Ravel Quartet, written a decade later in 1903, is a perennial discmate of the Debussy to which it is related in some structural elements. Here too, the Juilliard’s refusal to dawdle pays dividends, as in the opening, which can seem cloying in slower readings, while the group’s gift for rhythmic lift and tonal color makes Ravel’s imaginative sonorities in the slow movement gripping. If anything, the pizzicatos in the Ravel’s second movement are even more exciting than in the parallel movement of the Debussy, and the lively finale is as detailed yet faster than many rival versions, including the one made by a later Juilliard Quartet. That 1983 recording of these Quartets has long been considered a reference version. But heard alongside the greater vigor of both playing and sonics on this Testament disc, that digital Sony strikes me as wanting, sonically diffuse and lacking drive in the Ravel.
Testament’s Webern “fillers” are superbly played. Written in 1909 (Op. 5) and 1911-13 (Op. 9) these 11 brief, concentrated movements still test listeners and instrumentalists with their complexity and variety. These elusive pieces are right up the Juilliard’s alley, and their fascinating renditions are compelling. These performances have long been unavailable, so we’re in Testament’s debt for yet another important reissue. [11/15/2005]
