- Main performer:
LaSalle Quartet - Booklet languages: German, English
- Time: 72:32
Review
Amongst the cognoscenti, the LaSalle Quartet had a reputation as the American avant-garde quartet nonpareil. Among the intelligentsia, their Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern efforts were the acme of musical expressionism and their late Beethoven were the epitome of musical philosophy. Among the general run of classical aficionados, however, the LaSalle Quartet were just about unknown. Not only did they make very few recordings, but the recordings they did make were of the recondite late Beethoven quartets and the recherché quartets of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern and thus about as audience friendly as the poetry of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot.This disc -- a recording of a concert given by the LaSalle Quartet in the small hall at the Salzburg Festival on August 20, 1976 -- might have changed that perception had it been released when it was recorded. The programming is brilliant: Schubert's Quartettsatz followed by Lutoslawski's Streichquartett (written for the LaSalle Quartet), followed by Ravel's String Quartet and closing with the Finale from Beethoven's Op. 130 String Quartet, the last piece of music he composed before he died eight months later. The performances are astounding: the Quartettsatz is so hard it hurts, so edgy it cuts, and so lyrical it sings; the Lutoslawski, while expansively concentrated and intensely expressive is, nevertheless, for all intents and purposes, essentially definitive; the Ravel is shinning, shimmering, and even sometimes sizzling; and the encore of Beethoven's final Finale is so affectionate, so ethereal, so soulful that the heart aches and the spirit soars. The loud, sustained applause at the conclusion of the performance testifies to international audience's reception of the American avant-garde quartet nonpareil. Orfeo's recording from the Salzburg Festival is open and embracing. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide
Performances
| Composer | Title | Time |
| Franz Schubert | String Quartet No. 12 in C minor ("Quartettsatz"), D. 703 | 10:10 |
| Witold Lutoslawski | String Quartet | 25:34 |
| Maurice Ravel | String Quartet in F major | 28:06 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130 (Finale. Allegro) | 8:42 |
