Album

For all the agony as to the status of classical music in the modern musical landscape, the three 20th century string quartets on this fine French release can be said to have entered the repertory, with a reach that extends far beyond the U.S. They go quite well together, which is the first point in favor of France's Quatuor Diotima here; both Steve Reich's Different Trains, for string quartet and tape, and George Crumb's Black Angels for electric quartet feature an artificially enhanced string quartet, and even Samuel Barber elected to "enhance" his String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11, by orchestrating its central movement and making it into the famous Adagio for strings. The performers, and annotator Renaud Machart, are quite right to contend that the original version of the Adagio is well worth hearing; it loses much of its pure sentiment and becomes a study in texture and resonance, and surrounded by the crisp opening movement and brief finale it provides the basis for a work that's quite a bit more modern in attitude than Barber's generally conservative public stance might suggest. In fact, this dichotomy is at the heart of Barber's music, and the Quatuor Diotima proves that you don't have to be American to get it. The other two pieces offer less pure scope for the musicians, but George Crumb's hair-raising Black Angels calls for plenty of virtuosity, which is duly delivered. The work features intersecting divisions among 13 short movements ("images from the dark land"), three larger groups (Departure, Absence, Return) into which they fall, and mirror structures centered on the seventh movement, "Threnody II: Black Angels." This movement has affinities with both Barber and with the repetitive structures of Reich's Different Trains, which feature Reich's characteristic doubling of quartet and taped voices, here ruminating on the contrast between the innocent train trips of the composer's childhood and the transport trains leading to Nazi Germany's concentration camps. All three quartets have accessible surfaces leading to complex depths, and the Quatuor Diotima leads the listener in expertly. Highly recommended.

© James Manheim, Rovi

CD 1
Steve Reich Composer Different Trains, for double string quartet and tape Work 26:57 Yun-Peng Zhao Violin, Quatuor Diotima String Quartet, Franck Chevalier Viola, Naaman Sluchin Violin, Pierre Morlet Cello
1	1.America: Before the war	9:00			$1.49
2	2.Europe: During the war	7:35			$1.49
3	3.After the war	10:22			$1.99
Samuel Barber Composer String Quartet in B, Op.11 (includes basis for 'Adagio for Strings') Work 19:35 Yun-Peng Zhao Violin, Quatuor Diotima String Quartet, Franck Chevalier Viola, Naaman Sluchin Violin, Pierre Morlet Cello
4	1.Molto allegro e appassionato	8:30			$1.49
5	2.Molto adagio (attacca; basis for 'Adagio for Strings')	8:38			$1.49
6	3.Molto allegro (come prima). Presto	2:27			$0.99
George Crumb Composer Black Angels (Images I), for electric string quartet Work 20:15 Yun-Peng Zhao Violin, Quatuor Diotima String Quartet, Franck Chevalier Viola, Naaman Sluchin Violin, Pierre Morlet Cello
7	1a.Departure. Threnody 1. Night of the Electric insects	1:25			$0.99
8	1b.Departure. Sounds of Bones and Flutes	0:39			$0.99
9	1c.Departure. Lost Bells	1:08			$0.99
10	1d.Departure. Devil-music	1:40			$0.99
11	1e.Departure. Danse Macabre	1:01			$0.99
12	2a.Absence. Pavana Lachrymae	1:08			$0.99
13	2b.Absence. Threnody 2. Black Angels!	2:38			$0.99
14	2c.Absence. Sarabande de la Muerte Oscura	0:54			$0.99
15	2d.Absence. Lost Bells (Echo)	1:10			$0.99
16	3a.Return. God-music	3:38			$0.99
17	3b.Return. Ancient Voices	0:36			$0.99
18	3c.Return. Ancient Voices (Echo)	0:39			$0.99
19	3d.Return. Threnody 3. Night of the Electric Insects	3:39			$0.99