In 2011,
Quatuor Diotima released an exceptional album of works for voice and string quartet by
Arnold Schoenberg,
Anton Webern, and
Alban Berg, which featured soprano
Sandrine Piau and contralto
Marie-Nicole Lemieux. This 2016 set from Naïve is an expansion on those performances, which are included as part of the complete works for string quartet by the founders of the Second Viennese School. This survey covers some early tonal pieces, the lush, densely chromatic textures of the post-Romantic works, the nervous, expressionistic gestures of the atonal phase, and the later explorations of the 12-tone method, which was the most fertile innovation in modernist music. This is a lot for any string quartet to internalize and make their own, but
Quatuor Diotima specialize in avant-garde techniques, and few groups have mastered these essential works and can compete with this ensemble's fine musicianship. The quartet plays with great confidence, precision, and the close communication skills needed in this demanding repertoire. Naïve's recording is well-balanced and transparent, and every detail is audible in the clean studio sound.