Utrecht String Quartet - Tchaikovsky: String Quartets, Vol. 2 (2013)

Utrecht String Quartet does superior renderings of Tchaikovsky's 3rd string quartet (op. 30) and Children's Album (op. 39), the latter transposed here from piano to violin. The third and final string quartet by this composer runs nearly 38 minutes, showing the orchestral sweep of his chamber music, which at its best has a symphonic effect (also true of his Piano Trio, op. 50). Tchaikovsky's crowd-pleasing tendencies were reigned in when he composed for chamber. This string quartet is strict, controlled and passionate. It is an elegy to a friend who had just died, but I would not have guessed that without background reading. That is untrue of his 6th symphony (op.74), at the end of which the world seems ready to end. For Tchaikovsky lite, Children's Album (at 27 minutes) can't compare to the Nutcracker Suite (op. 71a), but it has a disarming charm and transposes well. Highly recommended.