Schumann String Quartet, Zehetmair Quartet

This is Gramophone recording of the month:

quote:

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Every so often a recording comes along that is so alive and spontaneous that it is like being in the room with the performers. Of course, live recordings often have a special edge given, as it were, by the presence of the audience at the time. This extraordinary recording of two of Schumann’s string quartets – works dedicated to Mendelssohn – was made in a studio in Zurich but has all immediacy and thrill of a live occasion. One of the secrets of the rapport between these four players who periodically relinquish their solo careers and gather for a period of intensive study and performance is that they dispense with the music and, like concerto soloists, play from memory. It’s an unusual practice for chamber musicians but it clearly pays off because these performances crackle with excitement. A word of warning if you listen with headphones or very loud, you can hear the sharp intakes of breath at critical moments – I find it only adds to the magnetism of the music-making and almost find myself breathing with the players.)

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I've been listening to it for a week now. It is so good it reminds me of an old recording. Something like the Vegh!