Quartetto David performs Verdi’s sole string quartet with an ear toward those special qualities that comprise the composer’s operatic style. Graceful elements coexist with gritty ones, as the David players are equally attuned to Verdi’s slashing dance rhythms and serene cantabile melodies. The booklet notes, written by first violinist Mauro Loguercio, take pains to point out many supposed allusions to Verdi’s operas in the score. Indeed, there’s a decided singing quality to the melodic lines in this performance–a compelling alternative to the Melos Quartet’s more classically styled reading on Harmonia Mundi.
Turning to Puccini, the most familiar item in this collection is the beautiful Crisantemi, which fans of the composer will immediately recognize from the final act of Manon Lescaut. The same opera’s dancing opening reveals its source to be the second of the Three Minuets from 1892. The Scherzo is mildly interesting as an early example of Puccini’s use of local color in his writing, but the remaining works, the Three Fugues and the Tempo di Quartetto, sound pretty much like the student compositions they are. Happily, such limitations in no way prevent the Quartetto David from lavishing its full professional and emotional resources on this music, all of which is complemented by a pleasing acoustic and natural string sound.
