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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Naxos cashes in on the Carter craze, 4 Feb 2008
It isn't necessary to mention in every review that Elliott Carter will turn 100 in December 2008 and that at 99 he is still vital and composing, but it's just too impressive and heartening a fact to ignore. As a centenary offering, Naxos is releasing Carter's five string quartets in two volumes, performed by the Pacifica Quartet. This first disk contains the composer's first and, to date, his last works in the genre.
The First, from 1951, is generally considered Carter's breakthrough into his signature brand of modernism -- a sweeping, forty-minute tour de force, in three big sections, teeming with all the technical and expressive ideas that had been lurking in his subconscious. The Pacifica, a young group, plays with energy and a high polish that emphasizes beauty over drama, and a blending rather than a confrontation of instruments. The rich sound is particularly impressive in the opening Maestoso. The players seem to lose focus in the transition between the adagio and the variations, but they recover in the finale, which, in their hands, is luminous, rather than driving. The work is multifaceted and deep enough to support the approach. The Pacifica reveals a side to Carter that, in the face of all the clichés about his spiky modernism, has been unfairly overlooked.
The Fifth Quartet, which appeared forty-four years after the First, inhabits much the same sound world, but on a more concentrated, intimate scale. The piece is half the length of the First Quartet, yet it has twice as many tracks, each between one and three minutes long. The introduction is followed by six movements, each with a single, sustained character, separated by five interludes that mix together fragments of the extended music. Carter has compared the piece to a chamber rehearsal, in which the musicians comment on what they've just played or try out bits of what they are going to play later. The piece is also self-referential, recapping textures, techniques and moods, though not literal passages, from his four earlier quartets. The pizzicato Capriccioso that ends the work recalls the Third Quartet, the Presto scorrevole refers directly to the Allegro scorrevole of the First Quartet, and some the solo passages in the interludes remind me of the solos in the Second. Carter says he wrote the Fifth Quartet as a "farewell to the previous four and an exploration of a new vision," though we may still hope it is not a farewell to the form itself. The notes, by Bayan Northcott, say the music has a playful, divertimento-like character, but I must add this lightness does not rule out many passages of great power and anguished lyricism. The Pacific gives a crisp reading that benefits from a spacious reverb. Brandon Vamos' incisive, rich-toned cello playing in this piece deserves special mention.
A second Naxos disk, containing the Pacifica's recordings Second, Third and Fourth quartets, is scheduled for release in summer of 2008. When it arrives, we shall at last have a unified cycle of Carter's greatest chamber music, played, moreover, by enthusiastic young champions who understand and love it. That's a birthday present any hundred-year-old man should be happy to receive.
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~ Elliott Carter
by Alex Ross
~ Charles Mackerras
~ Elliott Carter
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