As stock in Bartók's string quartets dropped in the West, stock in Shostakovich's string quartets rose. But increasing interest in the Soviet composer's 15 quartets failed to spark a similar interest in the 13 quartets by fellow Soviet composer Nikolay Myaskovsky. In the digital age, there has so far been only one recording of the complete cycle, the Taneyev Quartet's from the early '80s. Previously released in the West by Russian Disc in the '90s in diverse couplings, the Taneyev's recordings are reissued here by Northern Flowers in much more sensible chronological order. Thus the first volume contains the composer's first three published string quartets of his Opus 33 set from 1930 (the fourth and final quartet from Opus 33 will presumably appear as the opening work of the second volume).
Each of the three works is distinctly different in form but conspicuously the same in content. The First in A minor is a massive four-movement work of unrelenting gloom. The Second in C minor is a more compact but no less disconsolate work. The Third, actually a rewritten version of a quartet from 1911, is in two huge movements, a grimly monumental Allegro non troppo malinconico followed by a bleakly desolate Tema e variazioni. Late-romantic in gesture and harmonic language, all three works show Myaskovsky's compositional mastery along with his obsession with darkness, despair, and death. The performances sound like more than another gig for the Taneyev. There's real grit in the group's tone and honest emotion in its intensity. The Soviet-era stereo recording is rough at climaxes but cleaner than one might have guessed considering the source. While not for everyone, Myaskovsky's quartets may appeal to listeners looking for a middle ground between the pessimism of Rachmaninov and the nihilism of Shostakovich. by James Leonard
The second volume of Northern Flowers' reissues of Russian Disc's series of recordings by the Taneyev Quartet of Nikolay Myaskovsky's 13 String Quartets intelligently and generously couples the composer's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth works in the form. (Russian Disc had oddly and inexplicably coupled the Fourth with the First, the Fifth with the Third and the Sixth with the Second and the Tenth.) As in previous recordings, the Taneyev Quartet throws itself fully into the music. Though the tone is wiry, the sonorities lean, and the intonation occasionally shaky, the players are wholly committed. The music sounds like the missing link between Rachmaninov's late Romantic gloom and Shostakovich's early modernist despair. All three works here are in minor keys and four movements, and all three range tonally and emotionally from the fuliginous to the despondent. Though too dark for everyday listening except by the incurably depressed, anyone who admires Myaskovsky's symphonies will certainly want to hear his quartets, and anyone who enjoys Shostakovich's quartets may want to check out Myaskovsky's. Recorded in the mid-'80s, the stereo sound here is close, hard, and acerbic, but surprisingly realistic. by James Leonard
The fourth volume in Northern Flowers' reissues of the Taneyev Quartet's recordings of the string quartets by Russian composer Nikolay Myaskovsky joins together his Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh works in the genre. All three come from the later years of the Great Patriotic War, but only the Ninth in D minor was entirely conceived and executed then. The Tenth in F major and the Eleventh in E flat major were conceived much earlier: the Tenth is a rewritten version of an unpublished youthful quartet, while much of the Eleventh is purloined from songs and short piano pieces written in the '30s. This means that only the restless and impassioned Ninth Quartet is recognizable as a work by Myaskovsky, while the Tenth and Eleventh seem too cheerful and ingratiating to be by the usually gloomy composer. As always in this series, the Taneyev Quartet gives its all to the music. Though its all does not always include a tight ensemble or a unified approach to intonation, it does include an ardent sense of phrasing and a sympathetic feeling for Myaskovsky's music, qualities that count for a lot in these otherwise unrecorded works. Recorded in the early '80s, the stereo sound here is plain, direct, and unadorned. by James Leonard
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