In 2022, at the end of a series of performances dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Claudio Cruz (violin), Adonhiran Reis (violin), Gabriel Marin (viola), and Alceu Reis (cello) from the award-winning Carlos Gomes Quartet, decided to record the entirety of Mendelssohn’s string quartets. In this project with the Azul Music label, the first volume is the album Mendelssohn: String Quartets No. 1, 2 & 3.

Mendelssohn simultaneously published his first two quartets — No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 12 (1829), and No. 2 in A Major, Op. 13 (1827) —, but he inverted the chronological order when numbering these pieces that, even in his youth, showed his full maturity. The subsequent Quartet — No. 3 in D Major, Op. 44 No. 1 (1838) — is a work the composer was proud of, as evidenced by his letter from July 30, 1838, to violinist and friend Ferdinand David (1810-1873).

In the Carlos Gomes Quartet’s interpretation, the Canzonetta, the second movement of Quartet No. 1, begins with a combination of vigor and fluidity, building a dizzying scenario ahead in the “più mosso” section. In the opening movement of Quartet No. 2, the clarity of execution fully illuminates the contrapuntal textures; and, as if that wasn’t enough, this recording presents a sumptuous stereo image, enhancing musical enjoyment. Already highlighted in the brilliance that the key of D major provides to the strings, the exultant finale of Quartet No. 3 finds the perfect union between momentum and detail in this recording, thus concluding an album that from start to finish reveals that technique and expression are a singular experience called music.

Text: Daniel Bento – @enxerguemusica