Mozart: String Quintets K. 515 & 516 in Bloomington, MN

With these two ambitious string quintets of
Mozart
's maturity, the
Quatuor Ebene
, joined by violist
Antoine Tamestit
, enters a crowded recording marketplace. However, there can be no doubt that the group achieves a distinctive interpretation here, one that demands attention. It is hard to characterize the group's
style globally because the players find so many shades in the music. Consider the first movement of the
String Quartet in G minor, K. 516
. Many recordings give this music an agonized, Beethovenian treatment, but the
is a good deal more restrained. Yet, this is not to say that it is any less intense, for here, as elsewhere on the recording, the balance between fine detail and overall structure is deeply thought out. The group's slow movements are both transcendent: their transitions in the two minuets are subtle indeed, and their accompaniment figures are as carefully wrought as the melodies. Nothing here is simple, and it is possible that some listeners will find the readings a bit too densely packed, but the group does not distort the music in any way. Tempos are quick, and space is hollowed out for detail through phrasing rather than through slight alterations to the speed. This effect is really quite absorbing to hear, and although
is the most limpid of composers, these are readings that may take several hearings to absorb. The sound from the 1,150-seat Auditorium at the Seine Musicale complex is a bit harsh and lacks intimacy, but this is a major statement, not just in these works but in
chamber music generally. ~ James Manheim