When asked why his Mozart performances lacked the Romantic warmth of Bruno Walter’s interpretations, George Szell retorted, “I cannot put chocolate sauce on asparagus!” It’s a comment that perfectly sums up the problem with these performances. The Zapolski Quartet’s turgid, heavy-handed interpretive sauce makes for a very unappetizing dish when poured all over these youthful, theoretically energetic and propulsive quartets by the great Danish composer. Slow tempos (the finale of No. 2 becomes an interminable slog), self-conscious exaggeration in the slow movements of both works, and an inability to maintain an unbroken musical line make these performances a chore, especially when excellent performances by the Oslo Quartet are available for a fraction of the cost on Naxos, to say nothing of the Kontra Quartet’s complete reference edition on BIS. A non-starter.
