Schubert, Sibelius - Quartets

The Guardian 80

Ehnes Quartet
(Onyx)

From the opening chord, firm, precise, pliant, this quartet knows its collective mind when it comes to Schubert’s much loved “Death and the Maiden”, D810. James Ehnes leads with that brilliance of technique and musical intelligence always evident in his solo career. He has fine, equally meticulous colleagues in Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin), Richard Yongjae O’Neill (viola) and Robert deMaine (cello). They avoid exaggerating the Viennese lilt, keeping all light, muscular and buoyant. The novelty is Sibelius’s only published quartet, the five-movement “Intimate Voices” in D minor, Op 56. It’s rarely played yet sheds light on other work from that time, namely the mysterious Fourth Symphony: an intriguing discovery.