Leipziger Streichquartett - Ravel, Milhaud, Tailleferre: String Quartets (2005)

In the first 10 years they made recordings for Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm, the Leipziger Streichquartett stuck mostly to nineteenth century Viennese standard repertoire of Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms with occasional side trips to the twentieth century Viennese standard repertoire of Schoenberg and Berg. In 2005, however, the Leipziger Quartet released its first disc of music from outside Vienna, as it turns out, far outside Vienna, with the quintessentially French quartets by Maurice Ravel, Germaine Tailleferre, and Darius Milhaud. And while none of the performances sound exactly Gallic -- their tonal weight and rhetorical emphasis places these performances firmly in the German-speaking musical world -- they are still thoroughly stylish, wonderfully expressive and completely effective performances. The Leipziger's Ravel quartet is full-toned and radiant, but clearly delineated. The Tailleferre quartet is clean-lined and austere, but tonally luminous. The Milhaud quartet is light and delightful in the slight outer movements, but enormously powerful in the extended central Funèbre. For some listeners, the weight and rhetoric of these performances may rule them out, but for listeners able to transcend cultural differences, there will be much to savor here. Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm's sound is almost as real as the warmth of the sun.