Chilingirian Quartet - Edvard Grieg: String Quartets (1999) Reissue 2007

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Chilingirian Quartet - Edvard Grieg: String Quartets (1999) Reissue 2007

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Until recently the Grieg G minor Quartet was as regularly coupled with the Sibelius as the concerto was with Schumann, albeit hardly in such profusion! But in the last few years the present coupling has gained ground: indeed there are now some half-a-dozen versions. The G minor Quartet is one of Grieg's most deeply-felt pieces and the Chilingirians have its measure. If it gave Grieg a lot of trouble (the first movement completely changed direction), the F major gave him even more. Two movements were completed (and the second is first-rate in every way) but in the sixteen years that elapsed between them and his death, he was never satisfied with the inpiration that came to him. The sketches for the remaining two were put into shape by Julius Röntgen after his death. Levon Chillingirian has taken great trouble over the score returning to Grieg's original sketches - and turning to all the right authorities. The newcomer has formidable competition from the Oslo Quartet (Naxos), who offer only the first two movements together with a quartet by Grieg's early biographer, the composer David Monrad Johansen, while the Raphael Quartet (Olympia) give us Röntgen's conjectural completion. The Chillingirians, on the other hand, leave off where Grieg did. They are unfailingly alive and intelligent. My preferred version of the G minor remains the Finlandia disc coupled with the Sibelius (reviewed some months ago) but the Chilingirians have complete dedication and a freshness that is wholly persuasive in both scores.

Review by Robert Layton, BBC Music Magazine

It’s a great shame that Grieg never finished his Second Quartet. The two completed movements, dating from 1891, have all the composer’s usual fertile invention and harmonic richness. The special feature of this CD is that the Chilingirian Quartet has gone back to the autograph manuscript of this quartet, not just to correct errors in the printed score, but to provide performing versions of the fragmentary third and fourth movements. So for the first time we can get some idea of what the completed quartet would have been like. The Adagio begins fairly unremarkably, but the powerful, dramatic middle section and the beautifully re-scored return, featuring solo cello, impressively expand the horizon. The finale begins with a characteristic and attractive idea, continually changing from major to minor, but soon declines into fragmentary sketches.
The disc is very well recorded - crisp but with a nice bloom to the sound - and the performances of both quartets are spirited, thoughtful and idiomatic, with finely balanced chordal playing that’s an especially powerful asset in Op. 27, where the instruments play together so much of the time. I’d still want to keep the passionately committed accounts by the Petersen Quartet; the more poised Chilingirian draws attention to the many incidental beauties but tends to expose Grieg’s rather ramshackle construction - of the Op. 27 finale for instance, where the Petersen’s faster tempo and onward sweep carries greater conviction. But this would be a strong recommendation, for the high-class playing and recording, even without the bonus of the more complete Second Quartet.'

Review by DuncanDruce, Gramophone

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Chilingirian Quartet - Edvard Grieg: String Quartets (1999) Reissue 2007

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Chilingirian Quartet - Edvard Grieg: String Quartets (1999) Reissue 2007

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Chilingirian Quartet - Edvard Grieg: String Quartets (1999) Reissue 2007

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