Yo-Yo and Rest Are Natural Soloists

Editor's Note: This article represents the first in a continuing series of reviews of classical recordings by these two authors.

Sony has released a new recording in its "Artist Laureate" series, this time featuring its premier chamber group--the quartet composed of violinist Isaac Stern, violist Jaime Laredo, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emmanuel Ax. This recording contrasts the piano quartets of Beethoven and Schumann, embracing both the Classical and Romantic periods in music.

DA: These two recordings appear removed from each other in many ways. The exertion, enthusiasm, and depth of interpretation necessary to bring off the Schumann hardly parallel the effortless lightness of the Beethoven. Indeed, the players react extremely differently to the two pieces.

BK: I would add that even the sound engineering differs dramatically between the two pieces. Whether a conscious decision made by the tonmeister or not, the Beethoven sounds consistently more atmospheric, more intimate and less strained than the Schumann in its entirety.

I must admit to a certain bias coming to this recording, considering that I intensely disliked an earlier reading of the Brahms Piano Quartets by this same group. In particular, Isaac Stern is showing his age. As a violinist already infamous for his questionable intonation and tone quality, he dooms the ensemble even before recording began.

Emmanuel Ax returns with his rich and globular tone, but more often than not in this recording it acts as an obscuring miasmic veil, rather than a complement to the strings. He has an extremely heavy left hand and a matching right foot on the sustaining pedal. His efforts are more appropriate for piano concerti than for these subtly textured chamber works.

As for former Currier resident, Yo-Yo Ma '76, I regret that I couldn't hear more of him through Ax's playing. Very uncharacteristically, he has to strain to force his tone through, especially in the Schumann.

Although Sony certainly has assembled a prestigious lineup sure to attract attention, the foursome cannot overcome their natural soloistic inclinations. To me, this comes across more as a quadruple concerto than as chamber music. They clearly try to make an effort at ensemble, but Stern refuses to bend his pitches down and to liven his dry tone, Ax hardly ever thinks of balance, Laredo gets lost in the acoustic din when not playing his solos, all while Yo-Yo Ma tries to play down the middle.

DA: It's true that, particularly in the first movement of the Schumann, the players plant huge accents and unlikely crescendos in their parts, as though trying to outdo each other. I agree that Ax's playing casts the largest shadow on these recordings. His clear and often too-powerful playing in the Schumann starkly highlights the roughshod scampering of Laredo and Stern. Laredo's most credible playing comes in the third movement, though his rich solo must contend with Stern's wavering obbligato.

It is quite surprising that Ax manages to dwarf Ma's usually colossal sound. One wouldn't expect such strange dynamics from a pair who have recorded all the major cello sonatas together over the last 15 years. For most of the Schumann, it seems that the strings are seated much further behind the microphone than the pianist; their resultingly tinny tones are swept away by Ax's nebulous waves of sound.

The technical expertise provided by Ax is, unfortunately, unmatched by the other members of the group. This is not to say that Ax is the best musician among them, though one might think so having only heard this disc. Still, he appears overly conscious of this fact, rumbling over Ma's smaller solos too easily.

Ax may simply be unable to compensate for the disproportionate weight of his sound in this recording setup; the listener can detect the lightness of his touch on the keys, yet the sound itself resembles a Class 9 hurricane. One musical detail sticks out specifically :to those familiar with the Schumann Ax doesn't roll any of the chords in the exposition of the first movement's theme.

Ax's best playing comes on the Beethoven. His runs are sublime, his pauses placed perfectly. In spite of the fact that they spend considerably more energy and adrenaline on the Schumann, all of the players exude more spirit and virtuosity in the Beethoven. It is, by far, the more pleasurable listening experience.

The Schumann brings intensely emotional playing, but also bad memories such as the beginning of the fourth movement, where Laredo and Stern both lose the string of their solo 16th-notes by the end of their runs. I wouldn't want the quartet to take a slower tempo, but I got the impression that they were flying blind--they didn't know for sure whether they could really pull it all off.

BK: I can't agree more with your assessment of Ax's playing, but I think that Yo-Yo Ma deserves a bit more credit for having the artistic integrity to try and blend with the ensemble. Admittedly, it must have been frustrating, but I feel that he remained more true to the spirit of the music than any of his colleagues, Ax included.

True, the playing in the Schumann was emotionally engaging, but I found the recording in its entirety to be remarkably free of real musical tension. The tempi were upright, and as a result, there was little momentum in either the forward or reverse directions. The individual playing was impressive, but I didn't find myself entirely convinced by the final product. By no means was I expecting tear-jerking renditions, but I did expect a recording that was more engaging than this one.

Stern and Laredo did seem to lose it in the final movements, but I had mostly given up by then. Another peculiarity that this recording shared with the Brahms release was the neartotal absence of the higher registers. As usual, Stern simply failed to get appreciable resonance from his instrument and was often downright tinny. Ax dominated the middle and lower registers, edging out Laredo and Ma in the process, and a lack of a suitable complement in the upper range gave this recording a disturbing hollow quality. Even Sony's 20-bit "Super Bit-Mapping" recording techniques didn't seem to make a substantial difference.

DA: Yes, Ax's solo parts made me think he was playing cadenzas for some Romantic concerti; when the rest of the continuo (which they might rightly be called) come back in, you're left wondering where the rest of the orchestra went. In the fervid parts of the Schumann, their sound had none of the immediacy of Ax's.

On the whole, I think that better recordings can be had for at least the Schumann. I'm sure that these four musicians enjoy getting together to read chamber works, but they'll have trouble competing against today's better groups and the classic historical recordings of the last 50 years. I would much sooner pick up the Busch Quartet with Rudolf Serkin, the Guarneri Quartet with Artur Rubinstein or the contemporary recordings by the Cleveland Quartet and Brian's upcoming favorites, Domus.

On the whole, this recording gets a Harvard B+. The quartet did the work that was assigned, but nothing brilliant materialized.