At first glance, a disc of chamber works by Tchaikovsky and Britten doesn’t seem like the world’s most natural pairing, other than to highlight first forays in the string quartet genre by two master composers (or to compare the works of two gay composers, an uninteresting concept played up in the liner notes). But what this album truly represents is a study in contrasts: contrasts of mood, of texture, of light and shadow–both between and within each of these three works.
Although not published until 1940, Tchaikovsky’s first quartet was written while he was still a student. Based on Ukranian folksongs, its warmth is conveyed beautifully by the Brodsky players, especially in the broad Andante cantabile, and yet the ensemble manages to create real suspense in the smallest details as well, particularly in the middle portion of the first movement. The Scherzo (marked “con fuoco”) blazes with intensity, though a bit more vigor in the concluding Allegro giusto would have avoided a sense of anticlimax.
The Britten Divertimenti of 1936 (unpublished until 1983) are a joy to discover. Though quite brief, the range of colors the composer elicits in the spiky, ornery March, quirky yet genteel Waltz, and brash Burlesque illustrates Britten’s deep understanding of string effects and the charms of a small canvas. But that’s just a taste of what’s to come: even the first few measures of his first true string quartet, composed in 1940, reveal a heartbreaking luminosity that sustains the whole piece (even in the wry Scherzo and jubilant Molto vivo finale), emerging with greatest force in the expansive, tender Andante calmo.
There’s a lot of heft and substance here. The Brodskys plunge right in, and given their superb musicality and technical mastery, they emerge with one of their best and most satisfying albums in years. The sound is slightly more veiled than is optimal, but still each voice comes through clearly.
