The pairing of Claude Debussy's String Quartet in G minor with Maurice Ravel's String Quartet in F major has occurred often enough in recording history to be considered a time-honored practice, and the programming of these works together is especially worthwhile when the playing is of the high standards of the Talich Quartet. This Czech ensemble has specialized in the music of Dvorák, Smetana, Janácek, and other composers of its nationality, but the group's flair and feeling for these Gallic masterpieces is as convincing as one might expect from a French string quartet. The Debussy work is particularly colorful, a demonstration of timbral contrasts and atmospheric textures that are typically associated with the term impressionism, though the Talich plays with sufficient body and transparency to keep the music focused and substantial. Ravel's quartet is a counterbalance, with its brighter sonorities and modal lyricism that soars where Debussy's music broods. Again, the clarity and solidity of the Talich's performance keeps the music from drifting off into a pretty haze, and the rigor of its interpretation prevents it from slipping into sentimentality. These performances receive exceptional engineering from Harmonia Mundi, and the ensemble's tones are clear, vibrant, and fully present, with a polished presentation in a natural sounding acoustic. Highly recommended.
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