Karol Szymanowski’s two string quartets belong with those of Bartók and Janácek in the stable of “great 20th century chamber works by Eastern European/Slavic composers.” Okay, so it’s not exactly an obvious set of criteria for record collecting, but you sure won’t be sorry if you take the plunge now. Both works display the composer’s love of lush, exotic textures, intermingled with some tangy dissonance, punchy rhythms, and the occasional folk-music excursion. And have you ever heard anything as purely lovely as the opening of the First Quartet? Unfortunately, these pieces have not been especially well served on disc, with the Carmina Quartet’s very good Denon recording taking pride of place, at least until now. The Australian Goldner Quartet gives the music a touch more breathing room, which is all to the good, and plays with no less commitment and verve, if perhaps not quite as much ensemble polish (those stratospheric violin lines are murder, though Dene Olding, a distinguished soloist in his own right, attacks them fearlessly). Toss in the equally rare (and just as welcome) pieces by Stravinsky, and at Naxos’ price you can travel these relatively uncharted waters with complete satisfaction.
