Arcanto Quartett - Claude Debussy, Henri Dutilleux, Maurice Ravel: String Quartets (2010)

Posted By: Designol
Date: Sept. 3, 2024

Arcanto Quartett - Claude Debussy, Henri Dutilleux, Maurice Ravel: Quatuors À Cordes (2010)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 310 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 174 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical, Chamber | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMC 902067 | Time: 01:11:17

In addition to the traditional pairing of the Debussy and Ravel string quartets, the Arcanto Quartett performs Henri Dutilleux's Ainsi la Nuit (1971-1976), a grouping that is becoming increasingly popular on recordings. These are absolutely secure, thoughtful, self-effacing readings of the Debussy and the Ravel. While the quartet doesn't bring particular new revelations to the pieces, the members play with nuanced sensitivity and impeccable musicianship. The haunted quiet they achieve in the first part of the third movement of the Debussy is especially impressive, as is the clarity of their sense of direction and unity in the final movement, the most difficult of the four to pull off. Similarly in the Ravel, the contrast between the serenity of the third movement and the raw athleticism of the fourth is attention-grabbing and invigorating.

The affinities Ainsi la nuit shares with the Debussy and Ravel quartets may not be immediately apparent because Dutilleux's harmonic language is not tonal, and its seven moments don't have an easily recognizable structure; this is unabashed "modern music." Placed strategically between the Debussy and the Ravel, though, the quartet can be heard as a relative of those works, which in their time (particularly the Debussy) stretched the boundaries of quartet writing. Like the earlier works, the Dutilleux is concerned with drawing fresh, new, often startlingly beautiful sonorities from the ensemble. The work's title, as well as the titles of many of its movements, suggests a nocturnal scene, and listening to the piece with that in mind can help orient the listener. The nearly pointillist sparseness of the fourth movement conjures up the mysterious vastness of space, and the riot of colors in the fifth movement, "Constellations," evokes a night sky blazing with stars. Harmonia Mundi's sound is clean, present, and nicely ambient. These are performances that would serve well as introductions to the Debussy and Ravel, and the Dutilleux should intrigue listeners with open ears.

Review by Stephen Eddins, Allmusic.com

The refinement that goes with the territory in French string-quartet writing is a quality that also graces the playing of the ensemble on this new CD.

The Arcanto Quartet has a catholic repertoire across a spectrum of chamber music literature, and has already produced exceptional discs of Brahms and Bartók. Here it combines the classic quartets by Debussy and Ravel from the closing years of the 19th century and the early days of the 20th with Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit, completed in 1976.

Right at the start, the performance of the Debussy quartet is a striking example of the Arcanto’s skill and stylistic perception. The playing has muscle, incisiveness and drive, tempered by delicacy of nuance and a shading of colour that animates the music and complements its fluidity of line. The pizzicatos of the second movement are light but precisely pointed, the subdued slow movement eloquently muted.

The Arcanto has always been notable for its natural cohesiveness and for the way in which individual timbres emerge so artlessly from the texture, and these attributes are as apparent in the Debussy as they are in Dutilleux’s complex Ainsi la nuit. The miniature scenarios conjured up by the individual components of this seven-movement piece are tellingly characterised with a kaleidoscope of detail, the whole score drawn together by the farsightedness of the Arcanto’s interpretative span.

The Ravel, while inhabiting a different expressive realm, equally benefits from the Arcanto’s clarity of articulation, its poise and reactions to niceties of phrasing, with a haunting shimmer to the slow movement and firm propulsion to the finale. It is a riveting disc – a further manifestation of the Arcanto’s blend of finesse, flair and probing intelligence.

Review by Geoffrey Norris, The Telegraph


Following its exceptionally impressive Brahms and Bartók releases, the Arcanto Quartet has struck gold again with its third disc. This foray into French repertoire is another tour de force of stellar musicianship and technique, both collective and individual.

The Debussy receives a dream performance, of silken refinement and great subtlety of expression—a very French kind of animation and inflection of line, minutely attentive to nuances of dynamics, articulation, and tempo modification. Fortes are always luminous, airy; ensemble precisely weighted, and flawless in intonation (try the opening chordal passage—you’ll be hooked). Solo contributions are incredibly characterful where called for, as in the second movement, which explodes from the speakers with a dazzling vibrancy, color, and verve that really take the breath away.

The Ravel is every bit as good, a textural and coloristic feast, catching the score’s worlds of nocturnal enchantment and phantasmagoria to perfection. At the same time the outer movements have splendid momentum, dramatic panache, and volatility.

They are equally impressive in the high modernism of Dutilleux, ideally served in this darkly translucent performance.

The most obvious competition comes from the Juilliard Quartet (Sony), in an identical coupling of the three works—flexible, spontaneous, stylish, and idiosyncratic in sound with their trademark generous vibrato; in the Dutilleux, edgier, more brittle than the Arcanto. Other classic couplings of the Debussy and Ravel include the Emerson on DG (high polish, rigor, discipline, and burnished sonority); Quartetto Italiano on Philips Eloquence (exceptional color, vibrancy, and a heightened—Italian rather than French—projection of rhetoric and drama); Alban Berg on EMI (sumptuous, immaculate, and slightly impersonal). Another interesting recent addition to the Debussy discography comes from the Kuijken Quartet (Arcana), in an adventurous sojourn into modern-instrument territory: smaller- and tighter-toned, characterful but less flexible, their very sparing vibrato resulting in a rather austere sound, no match for the vibrant yet delicate hues of the Arcanto.

It doesn’t happen very often with repertoire as widely recorded as these quartets, but in this instance the newcomer goes straight to the top of the heap. Highest possible recommendation, and a strong contender for this year’s Want List.

Review by Boyd Pomeroy, Fanfare




Arcanto Quartett at Allmusic


Arcanto Quartett:

- Antje Weithaas, violin
- Daniel Sepec, violin
- Tabea Zimmermann, viola
- Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello

Tracklist:

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
String Quartet Op.10 in G minor (1893):
01. I. Anime et tres decide (06:17)
02. II. Assez vif et bien rythme (04:00)
03. III. Andantino, doucement expressif (07:16)
04. IV. Tres modere - Tres mouvemente et avec passion (07:07)

Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013)
'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet (1975-1976):
05. I. Nocturne. Libre et souple (03:17)
06. Parenthese 1. II. Miroir d'espace (02:12)
07. Parenthese 2. III. Litanies (02:56)
08. Parenthese 3. IV. Litanies 2 (04:20)
09. Parenthese 4. V. Constellations (02:03)
10. VI. Nocturne (01:06)
11. VII. Temps suspendu (02:24)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
String quartet in F major (1902-1903):
12. I. Allegro moderato, tres doux (08:00)
13. II. Assez vif, tres rythme (06:36)
14. III. Tres lent (08:55)
15. IV. Vif et agite (04:41)

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

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Arcanto Quartett / Debussy, Dutilleux, Ravel - Quatuors a cordes

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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-02-19 16:31:39

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Arcanto Quartett / Debussy, Dutilleux, Ravel - Quatuors a cordes
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR13 -0.10 dB -18.74 dB 6:18 01-Claude Debussy: String Quartet Op.10 in G minor - I. Anime et tres decide
DR15 -0.10 dB -22.29 dB 4:00 02-Claude Debussy: String Quartet Op.10 in G minor - II. Assez vif et bien rythme
DR17 -3.33 dB -27.36 dB 7:16 03-Claude Debussy: String Quartet Op.10 in G minor - III. Andantino, doucement expressif
DR15 -0.10 dB -19.91 dB 7:08 04-Claude Debussy: String Quartet Op.10 in G minor - IV. Tres modere - Tres mouvemente et avec passion
DR16 -0.23 dB -23.32 dB 3:17 05-Henri Dutilleux: 'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet - I. Nocturne. Libre et souple
DR19 -0.36 dB -29.59 dB 2:13 06-Henri Dutilleux: 'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet - Parenthese 1. II. Miroir d'espace
DR14 -0.10 dB -18.85 dB 2:57 07-Henri Dutilleux: 'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet - Parenthese 2. III. Litanies
DR17 -0.10 dB -26.29 dB 4:20 08-Henri Dutilleux: 'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet - Parenthese 3. IV. Litanies 2
DR14 -0.10 dB -18.64 dB 2:04 09-Henri Dutilleux: 'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet - Parenthese 4. V. Constellations
DR13 -1.21 dB -22.82 dB 1:07 10-Henri Dutilleux: 'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet - VI. Nocturne
DR16 -2.38 dB -26.43 dB 2:24 11-Henri Dutilleux: 'Ainsi la nuit' for string quartet - VII. Temps suspendu
DR17 -0.10 dB -23.57 dB 8:00 12-Maurice Ravel: String quartet in F major - I. Allegro moderato, tres doux
DR18 -0.10 dB -24.76 dB 6:37 13-Maurice Ravel: String quartet in F major - II. Assez vif, tres rythme
DR18 -0.52 dB -26.67 dB 8:56 14-Maurice Ravel: String quartet in F major - III. Tres lent
DR14 -0.10 dB -19.79 dB 4:41 15-Maurice Ravel: String quartet in F major - IV. Vif et agite
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 15
Official DR value: DR16

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Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 587 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================


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