Joachim Raff String Quartets 1 & 2

[Wieland]

Forthcoming from MDG

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/joachim-raff-kammermusik-vol-1/hnum/10346434

The first two string quartets from Joachim Raff played by the Leipzig String Quartet. A new complete cycle?

[Mark Thomas]

I believe that's the intention, but we'll see. In any event, a very welcome release. Mine's on order.

[Alan Howe]

And mine will soon be following...

[Gareth Vaughan]

Yes, this is enticing - and particularly as the title seems to suggest a survey, not just of the String Quartets, but of Raff's other chamber music. However, we still lack a commercial recording of String Quartet No. 5, so I do hope this lacuna will be filled before long.

[Mark Thomas]

The Fifth String Quartet is on the final CD of the Mannheim Quartet's survey due from cpo in the next few months. It's been a long time coming.

[Gareth Vaughan]

That's brilliant news, Mark. Thank you for letting us know.

[Alan Howe]

Soon available to order from Presto:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8859498--joachim-raff-chamber-music-volume-1

[Alan Howe]

The new recording of No.1 from the Leipzig String Quartet is considerably tauter than the Quartetto di Milano on Tudor - more classical, not so given to expressive freedom. A strong case could be made for either approach, I am sure, but my preference remains with the Tudor performance precisely because of its highly sensitive response to Raff's shifting emotions, especially in that glorious first movement.

All in all, this work would be a desert island choice for me. It's my favourite string quartet; only Draeseke's 2nd rivals it in my affections.

[Mark Thomas]

That's very encouraging, Alan. What of the more diffuse Second Quartet? My copy has yet to arrive...

[Alan Howe]

I haven't listened to No.2 yet - and I don't know it as well as No.1. However, here are the comparative timings:

          Tudor           MDG
SQ1    38:17          33:15
SQ2    38:31          36:52

[eschiss1]

is the 5-minute difference in quartet no.1 because of a lack of exposition repeat in one of the outer movements, or more subtle reasons

[Alan Howe]

Well, for example, there's a difference of two minutes in the first movement of SQ1, as follows: Tudor - 12:56; MDG - 10:57. This is entirely accounted for by the much quicker tempo taken by the Leipzig SQ. The two conceptions are noticeably divergent throughout.

[Mark Thomas]

The String Quartet No.1 certainly gets a very business-like interpretation from the Leipzigers and that, as Alan rightly says, has got a lot going for it. Raff's music does respond to brisk tempi and no one hearing this work for the first time in this performance could fail to be impressed by this magnificent quartet. That said, what's lacking when comparing it with the Quartetto di Milano on Tudor is warmth, and that's particularly evident in the slow movement. It's a matter both of interpretation (although it doesn't feel too fast, the Leipzig Quartet lop a minute and a half off the Italian's timing), but also of acoustic - to my ears there's a sterile perfection to MDGs sound, while Tudor's is more natural. To be fair, the scherzo is jaw-droppingly effective with it's combination of speed and precision, but in the other movements I just don't get the same impression of humanity, or affection for the music that I do from the Quartetto di Milano. Interestingly it's the same sort of contrast one finds between the rival Violin Sonata cycles from cpo and Tudor.

But that's just a first impression and I'm certainly very happy to live with these two, very different views of the piece. It'll be interesting to see how the more discursive Second Quartet fares, up against both the Milanos on Tudor and the Mannheim Quartet from cpo.