The Bartók Quartet is the latest ensemble to enter what is becoming an increasingly populated if not yet crowded field of Tchaikovsky String Quartet recordings. Where before, fanciers of this music were glad to have any version available on CD, we now have the luxury of taking a more critical look at each succeeding new release. In that light, the Bartók’s offering, though intelligently and sensitively rendered, doesn’t really command our attention like that of the Borodin Quartet, with its taut ensemble and rhythmic acuity, or even of the St. Lawrence, with its richly sonorous, deeply felt performance.
What the Bartók does have in its favor is gorgeous tone and an ingratiating expressive simplicity. The foursome also expertly manages Tchaikovsky’s subtle dynamic shadings, particularly in the lovely Andante Cantabile from Quartet No. 1. Quartet No. 3 benefits from these qualities as well, but there’s more passion to be found in the first movement’s big tune than the Bartók provides, and the allegro proper never really takes wing as it does in the above-mentioned readings. Tacet’s recording has a dry, close perspective that dulls the sound’s overall impact–surprising given the general excellence of the label’s other chamber music productions.
