Here are all three recordings documenting the original Galimir Quartet, featuring first violinist Felix Galimir and his three sisters. Darius Milhaud coached the ensemble for this premiere recording of his Seventh Quartet, a lightweight, four-movement romp fusing South American rhythms with indecisive bitonality. The Viennese musicians approach Milhaud’s lilting syncopations in a rather straightlaced and square-toed fashion. By contrast, their Ravel quartet shimmers with coloristic variety and bracing momentum, capped by a fleet, shipshape finale. Ravel was in the studio for these sessions, and suggested a faster tempo for the fourth movement in order to squeeze it onto one 78 rpm four-plus minute side.
In certain respects, the Galimirs’ world premiere recording of Berg’s Lyric Suite has not been surpassed. While the engineering is constricted and drab, the important inner lines emerge with unusual clarity. More significantly, the musicians plumb the score’s complex textures more straightforwardly than many modern foursomes. They resist all temptations to go for the expressionist jugular, or to milk Berg’s necromantic harmonies, while keeping vibrato to a minimum. Contrary to producer Pharell Wener’s chatty notes, the Lyric Suite was reissued once before on Continuum. The latter transfer is brighter, but was effected from worn copies of the rare 1935 Polydor 78s. David Lennick’s restorations for Rockport utilize better source material, but are filtered a bit too much for my taste. Altogether, a reissue of considerable historic importance for collectors interested in 20th century performance practice.
