# Enescu - String Quartet 2 op.22 (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Enescu's 2nd String Quartet was composed between 1950 and 1951 and went thru a series of revisions in the next few years. The score was dedicated to the American pianist, composer, and arts patron, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. (the patron of works by Britten, Bartok, Schoenberg, Prokofiev and Webern - to name a few). 
The feel of the 2nd quartet is similar in style to his much earlier Octet (and not his 1st quartet) . "In this context, the first movement functions as an exposition, the second and third movements serve as the developments, respectively, of the first and second theme groups from the first movement, and the finale is the recapitulation of the whole" (Bentoiu 2010). The slow movement is especially effective and contemplative, containing a ghostly violin sequence accompanied by percussive cello pizzicato. The quirky scherzo is also a really engaging movement. As in the 1st quartet, Enescu's skills as a gifted, virtuoso violinist meant that he made great technical demands on all the players in this quartet (they get little rest) and annotated his works with complex bowing and dynamic notations. 
A few more recordings of this quartet but I haven't heard either the Rumanian Radio Quartet's 1956 mono performance or that of the Academic Quartet from 1979. 
As in the first quartet, one recording I still struggle with purely on a sound level is the shrill, over-bright and harsh 1977 Voces disc, on Olympia. Very nice, volatile playing and this would be a primary recommendation but the transfer to Olympia cd was very poor. The sound can be tamed by throwing back the treble and boosting the bass, but with others of similar quality and far better sound I'd just rather shop elsewhere so it's consigned to sit on my cd rack for another decade. If you can get a good LP rip of this one then I'd probably give it my primary recommendation.
Of the other two I'd heartily recommend the 
*Athenaeum Enesco Quartet,* on CPO (I think this is the same Quatuor Enescu recording that was rereleased in 2011 on a different label - timings are near identical and it sounds the same to me). It's a fine reading but shaded marginally by the *Ad Libitum*, on Naxos, who (although slightly quietly recorded) play with greater cohesion and manage transitions better than the competition. Their fuller tone suits this quartet better than in their performance of the 1st quartet.


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