# Rachmaninoff - String Quartet 1 (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Rachmaninoff made two attempts to write a string quartet but both works were unfinished with only two movements written for both. The first movement, Tchaikovskian Romance from the first quartet was written when Rachmaninoff was still a student in Moscow, aged a mere 17. The Scherzo is light and bright and provides a contrast to the romance. Overall it's a slight but nice piece that's graceful, tender and has some sweet pizzicato and tremolo writing. Incidentally, the work remained unpublished and its parts only existed in manuscript until 1947 when it was discovered in the Moscow Conservatory. Some have compared it to the works of his teachers Arensky and Taneyev but I don't agree. Anyhoo, what a shame we're only left with these 2 tiny movements. It would have been very interesting to hear it completed.






Recommended

Moz-Art Quartet - a nice, easy-going, one-dimensional recording that perhaps doesn't do it dynamically (but it's perfectly good).
Rimsky-Korsakov - not a particularly pleasantly recorded disc but the Rimsky-Korsakov quartet do especially well with the scherzo.
Elysee - a more melancholy take on the romance that's valid enough but they don't have the sheer beauty of those below.

*Better

Budapest* (1952 live) - an impressive performance in pretty iffy, recessed sound. It's acceptable enough but for me spoils a fine account (pizzicati sound dull, strings very wiry). Still easy to recommend despite it sounding like a bootleg.
*Leipziger* - much broader in the scherzo than all of the competition (a full minute on everyone else) they do ellicit some glorious tones. The romance is exquisite and very tender but am I alone in thinking they labour that 2nd movement unduly? If you can live with that sluggish pacing you'll rate this higher (I couldn't).

*Heavily Recommended 

Orava* - from the same disc as their excellent Shosty 8th and Tchaikovsky 1st, these Aussies have obviously taken a lot in from their Takacs mentors. This is a gorgeously expressive and very well-recorded performance.
*Goldner* - a particularly well-balanced and impressive recording. The Goldners are alive to Rachmaninov's romanticism in the romance and the vitality of his vision in the scherzo.

*Top Pick 

Ruysdael* - a highly emotional and deeply impassioned account that has a slight melancholy to the romance but real some glorious detail in the scherzo. For me this gets to the heart of these two movements the best.


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