STRING QUARTET, NO. 1 OP. 11

“A gripping interpretation passing every comparative test.” This was the press verdict concerning the MDG debut of the Meccore String Quartet with the string quartets of Edvard Grieg. Now the young Polish ensemble turns to works by Tchaikovsky. The attractive program features his first quartet, the famous sextet “Souvenir de Florence,” and a quartet movement from his study years. The Meccore musicians receive top-quality reinforcement from Isabel Charisius and Valentin Erben of the Alban Berg Quartet- guaranteeing you chamber performances of the highest international excellence. This combination is an audible boon for the sextet. The big sound produced by the six musicians can compete with that of many a string orchestra. However, the ensemble reveals its true qualities in the filigree passages- at the beginning of the enchanting serenade in the second movement or in the raging trio. Here the instrumentalists play a fast-paced game of musical catch that is a delight to hear, and the magnificent six part fugue in the finale has surely only rarely been more beautifully and marvelously rendered. The Meccore String Quartet also cuts an outstanding figure in the first quartet. The dance element gets its fair share, and so do the folkloric melodies that often are of Ukrainian inspiration. As if by magic, the soaring beginning immediately captivates the listener, and the great Tolstoy himself is said to have been moved to tears by the second movement.