On track: Quartet hurls itself into landmark achievement

By WILLIAM DART

I approached the New Zealand String Quartet's new Beethoven recording with some trepidation. Would the unsparing medium of the recording studio tarnish my memories of the group's complete Beethoven programme, which toured the country in 2000-2001, concerts which I witnessed receiving adulatory praise in Hamilton and Napier, as well as in Auckland?

My memories were vindicated. In what I hope is a sampler of more Beethoven to come, the group has turned to the post-Eroica set of Opus 59, the so-called Rasumovsky Quartets, offering us the second and third works of the triptych. Despite the assurance of Rolf Gjelsten's programme note that these two pair up particularly well, I find the omission of the first quartet a little frustrating (the Takacs' recent Decca recording offers all three along with the Opus 74 Harp Quartet on a double CD).

The welcoming words of cellist Gjelsten's sleeve note sets the tone for the NZSQ recording. Each quartet has its own DNA and the Opus 59 works are "novels rather than short stories". Gjelsten talks of "intros" not "introductions" and finds a quotation from the master that's perfectly tuned to harmonise with our DIY ethic: "Just as you throw yourself into the hurly-burly of life, so you can write works, in spite of all obstacles that society imposes."

And the four players positively hurl themselves into the fray, recreating all the punch and physicality of their concert hall performances. This more than compensates for an occasional roughness in the mix - the opening pages of Opus 59 no 2 are undeniably raw when compared with the Takacs recording.

Over 73 minutes, one gets the impression that this is music that has been lived with and through. This shows above all in the matter of tempo, where the NZSQ can't be faulted. The third movement of the second quartet is emphatically allegretto (the Takacs version is a raging torrent) and, in the third quartet, the grazioso of the Minuet is respected - which makes it the perfect lull before the tempestuous Finale.

My only concern, playing this alongside the Takacs set, which may well be a preferred choice with its inclusion of the first Rasumovsky, is the recording itself. While there is a laudable sensitivity to the "chamber music" ambience (the British engineers occasionally make the Takacs sound more like a string orchestra than quartet), too often Gillian Ansell's viola line has difficulty asserting itself alongside the other instruments.

But this is a minor quibble with a first-class local release that would have been unthinkable even five years ago.

It is by CDs such as this that we can chart our musical coming-of-age. More please.

* The New Zealand String Quartet, Beethoven Rasumovsky Quartets Op 59 nos 2 & 3 (Atoll ACD 402)