“The quartet play transparently and eloquently, without a hint of sentimentality, in performances that deal unflinchingly with the music’s latent violence. The slow movement of the A minor Quartet, in particular, veers terrifyingly into the darkness […] Definitely not Schubert as easy-listening, then, but a fascinating, thought-provoking disc.“
The Gramophone praises our release of “Schubert – Aus Der Ferne” with Signum Quartet! Read the review below!
“Sit back and enjoy’ urges the booklet and it really would be a pity not to listen right through. A string quartet transcription of Schubert’s early song ‘Lied aus der Ferne’ begins the journey with a gentle push; and with a softly glinting version of ‘Du bist die Ruh’ it recedes into the twilight. In between come four more transcriptions of Schubert songs and refined, searching accounts of two full-length quartets: the youthful D112 and the rather more familiar A minor, D804.
Richard Bratby
And in this context, the two quartets emerge all the more powerfully as the original, idiomatic masterpieces they are. The quartet play transparently and eloquently, without a hint of sentimentality, in performances that deal unflinchingly with the music’s latent violence. The slow movement of the A minor Quartet, in particular, veers terrifyingly into the darkness, and D112 emerges as a work of unexpected boldness and depth. The recorded sound is atmospheric and crystal clear. Definitely not Schubert as easy-listening, then, but a fascinating, thought-provoking disc.“
