Fun string quartets from Chopin's teacher

Jozef Elsner: String Quartets, op. 8

The Silesian composer Jozef Elsner is best known as Chopin's teacher, but he was also one of the most distinguished administrators in both the theatrical and musical worlds in Poland. Still, on the evidence of these three string quartets published in 1806 his skill as a composer would have eventually Elsner put on the map; one hopes that this excellent album will help to do that very thing. The Equilibrium String Quartet is made up of talented young musicians playing period instruments, and their cohesion as a group is evidence of diligent work and knowledge of historical practice as well as musical skills. While obviously designed for the salon rather than the more lofty artistic reach of his contemporaries Haydn (who had finished all of his quartets by then) and Beethoven (who at the time was about to begin his middle-period Razumovsky Quartets, op. 59), Elsner's quartets have a concertante focus. They're all well-wrought and are designed to showcase the virtuosity of each instrumentalist in turn. More importantly, they're fun to listen to, and for that, I think, we have to thank the Equilibrium String Quartet as much as Jozef Elsner.

A set I'll be collecting

From November 3, 2010:

"Opera Omnia" is the very encouraging title of this new series of CDs from the Accord label that feature the music of Witold Lutoslawski. This is the second disc in the series, and it features the second symphony, written in the period from 1965-7, and the fourth symphony, one of the last works Lutoslawski completed before his death in 1994.

Coming as they do before and after Lutoslawski's magnum opus, the great (and relatively popular) third symphony, these works provide some historical context to someone new to the music of this great master. They also demonstrate the wide range of musical styles Lutoslawski was comfortable writing in.

Jacek Kaspsyk leads the NFM Orkiestra Filharmonii Wroclawskiej in performances that are distinguished by their verve and energy in the 2nd, and a real sense of mystery in the 4th. In both works the complex inner parts are exposed without draining the music of its forward momentum. The musicians are well supported by the producers and engineers, and the disc is as splendidly presented as any CD I've seen this year. Downloading the audio files and a PDF of the liner notes doesn't match up against this package. It's a rare musical analogue of the question of whether eBooks can compete with the paper book. If all CDs were this beautifully packaged, there might be more sold!