Previously released as a pair of three-disc sets, the Auryn Quartett’s fabulous Schubert Quartet cycle is packaged together as a specially priced boxed set. Put simply, the young ensemble turns in some of the most invigorating, colorful performances of these works to be had on record. Player for player, the musicians enliven the composer’s well of inspiration with audacious accents, angular phrasing, and felicitous textural shadings. In particular, these qualities make the earlier quartets appear less rambling than they are. The ripe engineering transforms the ensemble into a super-quartet whose loud tuttis virtually rock out. Some listeners might regret the Auryn’s decision to forgo the first movement exposition repeat in the composer’s valedictory G major quartet, but has this eerie, otherworldly music ever sounded so modern? Arresting, non-generic interpretations of this stature don’t occur every day, and the Auryn Quartett’s milestone Schubert cycle should be heard by anyone who cares an inch about chamber music.
