Here's your disc of the week for March 24, 2013. Each week CBC Radio 2's In Concert looks at new classical music releases and selects one recording that you'll want to know about.
Artist:Ebène String Quartet.
Repertoire: String quartets by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn.
Label:Virgin Classics.
The Ebène String Quartet has been called the "boy band" of the classical music world, possibly because this heartthrob-handsome group of French musicians project vitality and boundless energy onstage and off. But that's about the only thing they have in common with other eager-to-please wannabes sporting questionable haircuts.
This Paris-based foursome has just released an impressive recording of three quartets by the Mendelssohn siblings — two by brother Felix, one of the greatest composers of the 19th century, and one by his older sister Fanny, his brilliantly talented soulmate whose musical genius was kept hidden at home by her protective family. The quartet takes on these outstanding works with an irresistible combination of precision and passion — the very thing that makes the Ebène one of the most in-demand chamber ensembles on the international concert circuit.
Formed a dozen years ago, the Ebène Quartet got its big break by winning the ARD International Music Competition in Germany in 2004. Ever since, they've maintained a brutal touring schedule (appearing several times over the past few years in concert halls across Canada) and have released critically acclaimed recordings of German and French quartet repertoire.
They've also earned respect from even the sniffiest classical snobs playing their own arrangements of jazz and pop classics. Their 2010 release, Fiction, brought together the theme from Pulp Fiction, the pop classic "Nature Boy" and Lennon and McCartney's "Come Together," and managed to make the concept of crossover legitimate again.
With this new Mendelssohn release they re-establish their place among the best contemporary interpreters of the hardcore classics with playing that's both beautifully nuanced and daringly adventurous. Particularly fine is their heart-wrenching performance of Felix Mendelssohn's Quartet No. 6 in F minor, written just months after his sister died, and just weeks before his own death. Felix called the piece his Requiem for Fanny, and it's an intense, anguished work of uncompromising grief. This boy band is clearly grown up, with lots to say that's worth listening to.
Here's an NPR recording of the Ebène playing Mendelssohn in a Brooklyn bookstore.
Related:
BISQC 2010, Final Round: Cecilia Quartet (Dvořák) - 1st Prize
BISQC 2010, Final Round: Afiara Quartet (Beethoven, Bartók) - 2nd Prize