This first installment in Naxos’ complete Martinu quartet cycle couldn’t be more auspicious. After all, if the Martinu Quartet can’t play Martinu’s quartets, then who can? Well, the Panocha Quartet, for one: its Supraphon recording of all seven works has reigned supreme for more than two decades. And while I can’t say that this newcomer eclipses those classic accounts, it does offer for the first time on disc music making of equal intelligence, virtuosity, and idiomatic flair. On the whole, the Martinu Quartet is a touch more relaxed than the Panocha, but there is the same velvety tone, the same enlivening sense of rhythm–clearly this group belongs to the great tradition of Czech string ensembles, and the playing is a joy from start to finish.
As for the works themselves, they are marvelous. The First Quartet has been accused of being derivative of Ravel and Debussy. This is fine with me. Who wouldn’t want to hear another quartet by Ravel or Debussy? The Second Quartet’s more concise form and busier textures reflect the composer’s years in Paris and his encounters with the neo-classical and neo-baroque forms that were to prove so rewarding to him. Three Riders is a brief programmatic piece composed by the 12-year-old Martinu, and shows him to have been unusually talented from the start, however poor his grades were when he finally got to the conservatory (he flunked out). Toss in excellent recorded sound, and it looks like Naxos has another major chamber music series on its hands. Essential.
