The Lark Quartet, Gary Graffman - Alfred Schnittke: String Quartets 2 & 3, Piano Quintet (1998)

The young, American, all-female Lark Quartet have been gathering prizes and critical encomia over the past ten years or so, and these sensitively prepared performances of three of Schnittke’s most memorable chamber pieces show just why. I’m pretty sure I’ve not heard a better focused or more full-blooded account of the Second Quartet, nor one which held my attention more consistently. In the Third Quartet, where Schnittke distils his existential Angst into a more cogent and moving structure, the Lark have nothing to fear from comparison with the Borodin Quartet, at least so far as clarity, accuracy and blend are concerned. Spot-checks confirm that it is the Russians who penetrate deeper to the pain of the first movement and risk a wilder abandon in the second.
Since the injury to his right hand in 1979, Gary Graffman has been heard mainly in the left-hand-only repertoire. But the (two-handed) Schnittke Quintet makes few demands on agility and power, and it is wonderful to hear it played with the tonal refinement of a top-class player. In fact this performance could easily be a primary recommendation were it not that Ludmilla Berlinsky’s shadings are even more subtle than Graffman’s and that the Borodin’s phrasing is even truer to the emotional desperation of the piece than that of the scrupulous and wholly admirable Lark. As the Virgin Classics disc is currently only available through the Special Import Service, this clearly recorded and naturally balanced Arabesque issue is well worth considering.'