Tokyo String Quartet, Beethoven: String Quartets Opp.74 & 95
A leaner, ethereal take on a timeless classic
Two members of the Tokyo String Quartet remain from the lineup that recorded the complete Beethoven string quartets for RCA Victor in 1989-90: violinist Kikuei Ikeda and violist Kazuhide Isomura. Harmonia Mundi is giving the group, now with violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith, a chance to revisit the works; this disc, containing Beethoven's op. 74 and 95 quartets, is the third volume in the new series.
As seems appropriate for a label known for many high-quality original-instrument recordings, the Tokyo's new versions sound a little leaner and more sinewy — less tonally lush than their earlier performances, but with a wider range of color. The contrapuntal sections in the slow movement of Op. 95, for example, sound even more beautifully Bach-like, and there are ethereal, ghostly moments in both slow movements. The group also brings the right tone of levity to Op. 95's coda; in a quartet full of dramatic surprises, the biggest of all is the sudden, startling frivolity of the last 30 seconds or so of a work nicknamed "Serioso." It can be a challenge for quartets not to continue the agitated mood of the rest of the piece (or to show off how fast they can play), but the Tokyo makes this ending a true surprise: elegant, Mozartean, and not at all frantic.
