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Grieg / Thommessen / Sibelius: String Quartets - Engegård Quartet

Grieg / Thommessen / Sibelius: String Quartets - Engegård Quartet

BIS  BIS-2101

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Chamber


Edvard Grieg: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27
Jean Sibelius: String Quartet in D minor, ‘Voces intimae’, Op. 56
Olav Anton Thommessen (b. 1946): Felix Remix (String Quartet No. 4; 2014)

Engegård Quartet:
Arvid Engegård & Alex Robson, violins
Juliet Jopling, viola
Jan Clemens Carlsen, cello


It is striking that the two Nordic string quartets that have received the greatest international attention and have the firmest foothold in the repertoire come from composers whose reputations rests on their achievements in other genres than chamber music. In the case of Edvard Grieg, a string quartet was in fact among the very first works that he presented after having finished his studies in 1861, but the Quartet in G minor, Op.27, was the only such work to be published in his lifetime. In 1878, while composing it, Grieg wrote that ‘it aims at breadth, to soar, and, above all, at vigorous sound’, and the amplitude of the sound is indeed striking: the generous use of double-stops creates an almost orchestral effect, unusual for the genre. This caused some reviewers to criticize the quartet as being unidiomatic, while others, including Liszt, greeted it with enthusiasm.

Some thirty years later, when Jean Sibelius composed his D minor quartet Op.56, he too had previous experience of writing for the medium, but Op.56 is the only quartet among his mature works. He embarked on it at a critical point in his career, following the completion of the Third Sym­phony and during a stage of increased introspection and greater thematic concentration. The often used 'nickname' Voces intimae is often taken to refer to the intimate interchange between the four voices in a quartet, but is probably a more specific allusion to a brief passage in the third movement: Sibelius wrote the remark into a score some time after the work had been published.

Formed in 2006, the Engegård Quartet has become one of the most sought-after ensembles in Norway and has also received international recognition. On its first release on BIS the quartet also includes Felix Remix by Olav Anton Thommessen. The work, which was premièred by the Engegård Quartet in 2014, is based on the second movement, Allegro di molto, of Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet, Op. 44 No.2.

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PCM recording

Recorded in April 2015 at the Bryn Church, Baerum, Norway, 24/96

Producer and sound engineer: Ingo Petry (Take5 Music Production)

Equipment: BIS’s recording teams use microphones from Neumann and Schoeps, audio electronics from RME, Lake People and DirectOut, MADI optical cabling technology, monitoring equipment from B&W, STAX and Sennheiser, and Sequoia and Pyramix digital audio workstations.

Post-production: Editing and mixing: Ingo Petry

Executive producer: Robert Suff
Reviews (1)
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Review by Adrian Quanjer - March 1, 2016

Few people know that Sibelius wrote 4 string quartets. Many people perhaps don’t even know he wrote 1, and if they do, then it is this one, his last: ‘Intimate Voices’. The first two are study pieces; the third got an opus no. (4) and as far as I know the Finlandia label is the only one having released a complete set somewhere in the 1990-ies.

BIS issued a new hi-res recording of this string quartet in combination with Grieg’s one and only finished creation in this field. It seems a logical choice: two Nordic string quartets. The liner notes, though questioning ‘sweeping statements’ about them belonging together, find enough common ground to do so. To my mind rightly so: These are two major ‘transitional’ compositions which are, for different reasons, emotionally charged and can, if so whished, be appreciated separately at different times.

Little is known about Grieg’s personal life when composing his string quartet. There are, however, several clues as to the difficult period he apparently went through. It is supposed that he had marriage problems, making him seek refuge in Lofthus, a small and remote village East of Bergen. Being very discrete about it, not much has filtered through if it wasn’t for a quote from a letter to a friend, describing his stay as: “an important period in my life, rich in events and emotional stress”.

It is not the first time the Engegård Quartet goes on record with Grieg’s Quartet in G minor Op. 27. They have done it some eight years ago for the 2L label. Comparing that recording with the present one, I find that their interpretation has evolved; carrying more weight and expression. It would seem to me that they have, more than before, grasped the emotional essence. After a dramatic start their playing becomes tensely involving, on the one hand by following Grieg’s intention to make it sound vigorous and powerful, but uncovering at the other underlying feelings of sorrow and grief. Grieg’s music is never far away from Norwegian folk music, but here, instead of being playful, it sounds more painful and sometimes obstinate. Even the relative peace in the Romanze is not entirely free from such emotion.

The result is a brilliantly moving composition, equally brilliantly interpreted and played by the Engegårds.

Sibelius’ emotional charge is of a different character. He’d been diagnosed with throat cancer, and not only was he afraid of recurrence after having been operated on, but also the fact that from then on he had to abstain from his compositional stimulant “The mere colour of a wine was enough to inspire him” (From: http://www.sibelius.fi), must have had its demoralizing effect.

Against this background he embarked on composing something new and different, his string quartet in D minor Op. 56. It may be seen as a transitional composition departing from a period of nationalistic pathos going to modern classicism. It consists of five movements, following classical patters, of which the central Adagio di molto is the most expressive. This movement also provided the nick name ‘Intimate Voices’, taken from an inscription in the score send to a friend.

The Engegård Quartet seem less influenced by Sibelius’ widely assumed negative state of mind in that their rendition is not as emotionally persuasive as could have been expected, after having listened to Grieg. That may be due to the disadvantage of listening to one directly after the other. One might say that their interpretation is more in line with the musical characteristics, observing markings and staying close to what some call ‘Sibelian Sound’.

In comparison with the Gabrieli String Quartet (1989 Chandos, RBCD), one of the reference recordings of the past, the most striking element is the difference in tempo in the middle movement Adagio di molto, where the Gabrieli’s are almost 4 minutes slower than the Engegårds. Also in the other movements the Engegårds are mostly faster. Gabrieli opponents have held the view that they were too much concerned about mystifying Sibelius. Drawing the conclusion that the Engegårds are not, does no justice to them. Both have a different view as far as interpretation is concerned. There is no apparent shortage of ‘feeling’, but taking this quartet as a bridge between two style periods, such as expressed in the third and fourth symphony, I’m inclined to see the Engegårds leaning only partly on the old pillar and mostly on the new, ‘modernist’ one, heralding more austerity and less emotion.

As far as Grieg is concerned, choosing between 2L and BIS is not so easy: Their second interpretation of this quartet (BIS) has in my view more emotional depth, but sound wise 2L’s DXD/DSD recording has better and more detail. This said some may not like 2L’s all-embracing surround. If that is of no concern, then 2L is perhaps the better choice.

For Sibelius there is a Hi-Res alternative, too, from Praga Digitals. Qua interpretation both have their advantages and disadvantages. The Engegårds are more tonally secure and on the whole slightly more pragmatic, whereas the Kocian Quartet play with more enthusiasm, having from time to time a problem with intonation and precision. In the end, though, I would opt for BIS, also in view of better and more realistic sound.

In the final analysis other considerations may play a role as well, like combinations that fit into an already existing library. Whatever the guidance, BIS will certainly not be a bad choice, with Thommessen's Remix as a surprising bonus.

Blangy-le-Château,
Normandy, France

Copyright © 2016 Adrian Quanjer and HRAudio.net

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