This is a lovely disc, coupling together the usual Ravel and Debussy pairings, usually it's the Ravel Quartet i always find superior, but this time listening, i feel i'm developing a new appreciation for the Debussy Quartet, the two Quartets are similar in so many ways, and of course the Ravel was based on the Debussy, both have a dynamic pizzicato second movement, it was good to get to know this Quartet better today.
The Melos String Quartett is a German Quartet that was active for 40 years, from 1965-2005, they recorded this disc in 1979, the booklet front cover is a great one [picture by Annette Lederer], a colourful picture of the Quartet, large umbrellas in hand, very long grass in the background, and carrying their instruments in cases.
Well i just love all of the pizzicato playing, the second movement really is a true scherzo, brief and playful, here it lasts less than 4 minutes, a combination of pizzicato and bowing, and i just love that high treble plink plink [0:09+], and i just love the twang at [0:10], the way it resonates and dies, also in the first minute i can hear Grieg's 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King', after the pizzicato opening, the music gravitates more towards bowing [0:58+], there's this lyrical yet sour song from the first violin [2:16-2:34], and right afterwards some lightning bowing from the whole Quartet in turn [2:34-2:43], ending on the cello, nice sonorities here, the pizzicato returns but it's different, i like the ending, a fairly lazy version of the opening tune [3:26-3:50], the whole thing kicks nicely, perfectly placed second in the whole scheme of the Quartet.
Here's the Cuerteto Casals playing the second movement Assez Vif Et Bien Rythme on YouTube.
Well i just love all of the pizzicato playing, the second movement really is a true scherzo, brief and playful, here it lasts less than 4 minutes, a combination of pizzicato and bowing, and i just love that high treble plink plink [0:09+], and i just love the twang at [0:10], the way it resonates and dies, also in the first minute i can hear Grieg's 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King', after the pizzicato opening, the music gravitates more towards bowing [0:58+], there's this lyrical yet sour song from the first violin [2:16-2:34], and right afterwards some lightning bowing from the whole Quartet in turn [2:34-2:43], ending on the cello, nice sonorities here, the pizzicato returns but it's different, i like the ending, a fairly lazy version of the opening tune [3:26-3:50], the whole thing kicks nicely, perfectly placed second in the whole scheme of the Quartet.
