The Leonkoro Quartet was founded in Berlin in 2019, anchored by 1st violin and cello brothers. This is their second recording; I have not heard their first on Mirare (Ravel and Schumann 3) as it is inexplicably unavailable on CD, being an MP3 download only. (One wonders why.)
The group plays standing up (except for the cello, of course) and that extrovert, emotional exuberance comes through in their playing. Their Berg and Webern are positively infused with richness – illuminating the rich harmonic and melodic structure with playing which is rich and full-bodied, adorned with expressive singing lines and voluptuous vibrato. And it works beautifully, bringing affectionate warmth and lushness – and even an alluring sensuousness – to these scores that I wasn’t expecting. But something happened in the Schulhoff. They simply don’t bring the same thoughtful insight and endearing affection to it as with the other works on the program. For some reason, they whisk it away like madmen, trying for all the world to get through it as fast as their little fingers can possibly go. And I simply don’t understand why, especially after the heartfelt emotional outpouring in all the rest. I can hear no musical justification for it.
But before we get there, they begin the program with something utterly fantastic – and fantastically played – Berg’s fantastical Lyric Suite from 1926. I wasn’t overly familiar with the piece, though I have a few recordings of it on my shelves. Still, I never considered it particularly memorable, let alone groundbreaking. Until now. Hearing the superb Leonkoro Quartet play it, it is revealed to be so innovative and ahead of its time, it truly is groundbreaking. And very memorable in this performance of it. The Leonkoro uncover endless color and variety of moods in the music, with a myriad of otherworldly atmospheres and atmospheric effects I would never have expected in 1926. Indeed this looks forward to the Ligeti of 1954 (his 1st string quartet), especially in the misterioso (3rd movement) and presto (5th). But even more, it is everywhere perfumed with the harmonic soundworld and colorful atmosphere Dutilleux would create in his Ainsi la nuit some 50 years in the future, with its amazing orchestration and ingenious use of musical string effects. It simply boggles the mind that just 4 string instruments can make all the sounds we hear, which are positively orchestral in scope and range. Berg – yes Berg – it seems, is perhaps the granddaddy of avant-garde effects. (But more on this below.) And yet he incorporates them so effectively into the musical fabric, one hardly notices them in the same way one encounters in Ligeti (not to mention Penderecki!). And one certainly isn’t put off by it here, especially as played with such rapturous ecstasy as heard on this recording.
The piece is more expansive than I had remembered, with 6 contrasting movements lasting nearly 30 minutes. (Indeed, it occupies nearly half of the total playing time on this CD.) However, comparing it to my previous favorite recording of the piece (played by the Novus Quartet on the fantastic Aparte label), the Leonkoro are slightly quicker in all 6 movements, from a few seconds in the livelier sections, to as much as a full minute each in the adagio and the largo – all to the benefit of the music.
But what makes the piece come to life so memorably here is in the way the Leonkoro characterizes each movement’s stylistic indication so vividly. Each section is evocative and distinctive, with playing of extraordinary variety of articulation, dynamics, color and tempo – and most of all in the contrasts of emotion and mood: I – jovial; II – amorous; and III – misterioso. And in the adagio (IV) – oh my goodness, the passion of it! Followed by a presto delirando, which is as delirious as you could ever imagine it sounding. (How do you make a piece of music sound “delirious”? Well, the Leonkoro most certainly do it.) The finale (desolato) is based on a poem which reads in part, “from the depths of the dark abyss where my heart has fallen.” That’s pretty deep, and that’s exactly the mood that’s created here. You can hear real anguish in the tone, vibrato, and intensity of expression in their playing, including a brief climax at about the 4-minute mark which is overwhelmingly passionate in its despair. Amazing.
Fortunately, the recorded sound is ideal. The group is presented at a perfect perspective – set back at a slight distance, with just enough to allow air and spaciousness to surround the musicians, yet afforded superb immediacy and presence within an atmospheric acoustic – all of which compliments the music beautifully.
And now comes Schulhoff’s Five Pieces, which was the initial attraction for me. They start alarmingly fast in the opening, but then slow it right down a few measures in, as if suddenly realizing … oh wait, this is a valse. And they actually manage to find some charm in the rest of it. And the Serenata has character and intrigue, though perhaps a little too fast for my liking, but certainly within the realm of reason. But then they take off like a marathon sprinter in the Czeca – lightweight, flippant and impossibly breathless – not like how we normally hear it. The Tango, then, is just fine; but being the longest piece of the five, it now seems disproportionately extra-long in comparison after racing through the Czeca in 90 seconds flat. Finally, the Tarantella is a joke. Surely there has been some sort of recording/mastering error – is this a 33rpm record accidentally played back at 45? (I’m not kidding with this.) It takes off like the flight of the bumblebee swarmed by homicidal hornets. The music is a whirlwind – no, a tornado – at this speed, rather than a musical Tarantella. They shave off about 30 seconds from the average reading (which is a lot for a movement lasting under 3 minutes), and even 20 seconds off the fastest other one I have heard (the very exciting recording from the Prezioso Quartet). It is simply absurd and seemingly out of character for this group. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again and again and again – just because you CAN play something that fast, doesn’t mean you SHOULD. And this is a case in point. Making matters worse, there is an ill-focused graininess to the recorded sound here which I hadn’t noticed in the Berg, making it sound just awful, especially here in the finale. I can’t imagine what went wrong here.
Fortunately, excellence returns for Webern’s Five Movements (Opus 5). I was shocked to learn this was composed as early as 1909; it sounds even more avant-garde than Berg in 1926! So I stand corrected; it’s actually Webern who is the granddaddy of them all (although I have not heard Berg’s 1st String Quartet, also from 1909, so I reserve judgement on that). The booklet describes this piece as “using a freely atonal style”; and while that is certainly true, I actually hear melodic motifs and enough harmoniousness to make one think it’s more tonal than it really is. Much of this can be attributed to the gorgeous blend and sweetly singing playing of the Leonkoro Quartet. Even more so than in the Berg, they infuse this music with drama, passion and voluptuousness in all the right moments, making it more appealing and alluring than I would have ever expected from Webern. The fascination and wonder of innovative sound effects permeate the music – but surrounding all those sounds with such singing expressiveness, makes it all surprisingly seductive. And it is helped in this regard by the recording, which returns us to the sumptuousness and lush acoustic we heard in the Berg. The coarse-textured, ill-focused grit in the Schulhoff is largely gone here.
I (“deeply/intensely moving”) is instantly much more avant-garde in sound after the innocuous Schulhoff, but surrounded by enraptured lyrical interludes, ravishingly played here. Compared to the Berg, the overall sound is spikier, more crisply articulate, with more unusual (and fascinating) string effects sprinkled throughout. But the endearing lyricism of the playing is the most salient characteristic, which is remarkable in this kind of music. II (“very slow”) is desolate and otherworldly, with plaintive, almost whimpering con sordini solos passed among the inner voices. Next is a 40-second scherzo which whisks away in a flash, and is over in a flash. It came and went so quickly, I immediately wanted more of it; it hardly constitutes a “movement” – Ha! It is followed instantly by a return to the out-of-this-world atmosphere in another “slow” section, with avant-garde effects jotting around its orbit.
A lonely cello announces the finale (“gentle/delicate movement”) accompanied by midrange harmonics in the others, before striking up a reticent dialog with the 1st violin. Icy sul pont exclamations interrupt their conversation before returning to the quietude of a remote, otherworldly landscape. God I just love this stuff (much the same as I love Ligeti’s Quartets). It is mesmerizing, entrancing and totally captivating as played here by the absolutely incredible Leonkoro Quartet.
After this, Webern’s Langsamer Satz, written 4 years earlier, is a bit of a letdown to end the program. Coming right after the gentle, gossamer mists of otherworldly atmospheres, we suddenly hear Brahms! And what a jolt it is. I almost wish it hadn’t been included at all, though it might have worked better immediately after the Schulhoff. But once the ear (and mindset) adjusts, it is pleasant, certainly, and the tempo feels just about perfect for it – a bit slower than some, but beneficially a little quicker than many others. The Leonkoro keep it moving along without overindulgent Romanticism – with just enough heartfelt emotion to allow their sweetly singing lines to blossom and propel it. This is certainly not what I expect to hear when I think of Webern, but taken on its own, it is amiable and rather beautiful – and astonishingly different from what he was writing just 4 years later. I like the way he began evolving as a composer, moving far, far away from Brahms. I mean, we have Brahms for that.
You’ll have to indulge my enthusiasm and newfound passion for this music with which I was not terribly familiar. Yes, I’ve heard it all before, but never before like this. The Leonkoro Quartet’s playing of this music has made a profound effect on me – making it sound so completely new, and yet so familiar, I’m literally hearing it as if for the first time – with a sense of new discovery.
When considering this group’s playing of the program as a whole, despite the frenetic fast sections of the Schulhoff, their lyrical beauty and musical insight demonstrate magnificent string quartet playing. This group exhibits a rather unique and completely fascinating combination of voluptuousness and exquisiteness which is simply enthralling. This release is thoroughly rewarding and treasurable, not only for the music, but for truly extraordinary musical insight and outstanding playing. And with equally excellent production values from Alpha Classics, this disc is absolutely indispensable for all lovers of modern string quartet music.
%20Show%20artwork%20-%20Windrush%20Suite%20&%20Echo%20in%20the%20Bones.jpg?w=670&resize=670,446&ssl=1 "An evening of connection, reflection, & celebration: Renell Shaw's The Windrush Suite at Kings Place")
