The good news is that this is as attractive a disc of late romantic string sextet music as has ever been released. With the young yet poised and powerful
Artemis Quartett as the basic ensemble augmented by violist
Thomas Kakuska and cellist
Valentin Erben from the
Alban Berg Quartet, these performances have a warmth, an intelligence, and a soulfulness to rival the finest performers of the past. In the Sextet that opens
Richard Strauss' opera Capriccio, the
Artemis four plus two are as sweetly nostalgic as cream with honey. In
Artemis violinist Heime Müller's sextet transcription of
Alban Berg's Piano Sonata, the
Artemis vier und zwei are as passionately despairing as absinthe with a dash of hemlock. And in
Arnold Schoenberg's original sextet version of his early masterpiece Verklärte Nacht, the
Artemis quatre et deux are ardently sensual and ultimately transcendent. The bad news is that violist
Thomas Kakuska died shortly after this recording was made and thus not only will there never be another recording like this one, there will never be another recording by the
Alban Berg Quartet, one of the greatest of the postwar quartets. Anyone who loves the repertoire or great chamber music playing has to hear this disc, especially since Virgin's sound is amazingly evocative.