Parkanyi Quartet - Claude Debussy & Maurice Ravel: String Quartets (2004) [SACD]

When the Orlando Quartet stopped playing in its original configuration it was one of the world's greatest ensemble of those days. The Parkanyi Quartet started in 1998 with three of the original members of the Orlando Quartet and a new cellist, Michael Müller. It seems to me that they deserve the same high qualification now, as they play the quartets by Ravel and Debussy in a more than magnificent way. In relatively quiet tempi every movement is built up with enormous tension. In Ravel the weight lies on the sentimental elements, in Debussy on conflict. The technical capability of each musician is far beyond any doubt: this is very powerful and often courageous playing. It is a difficult task to surpass the famous performance by the Alban Berg Quartet, but this edition has every right to exist next to them. A great release!