If Brahms had composed Mozart's piano quartets, these performances by Germany's
Fauré Quartet would be well nigh definitive. Certainly, one cannot fault the players' skill. Each is a master of his/her instrument from violinist Erika Geldsetzer's lovely tone through violist Sascha Frömberg's full tone and cellist Konstantin Heidrich's lush tone to pianist Dirk Mommertz's weighty tone. And each blends and balances with the others in easy, effortless ensemble. But, equally certainly, one cannot altogether approve of their approach to Mozart. While "lovely," "full," "lush," and "weighty" are all entirely appropriate adjectives used to modify performances of Brahms' G minor or A major piano quartets, they are highly inappropriate adjectives with which to describe Mozart's G minor and E flat major piano quartets. And yet, they are the only suitable adjectives for the
Fauré Quartet's performances here. Under duress, one might accept their heavy playing of the powerful Allegro that opens the G minor Quartet as an example of youthful enthusiasm, but how could one accept the same weightiness applied to the same work's charming central Andante or its ebullient closing Allegro moderato? And, even under duress, could one accept their all-too monumental take on the enchantingly lighthearted E flat major Quartet? Deutsche Grammophon's sound is clean, but tries too hard to clarify the
Fauré Quartet's clotted textures, resulting in sound that is etiolated to the point of desiccation.