Hindemith: String Quartet No. 4, Op. 22 (1921) (previously No. 3)

“This is a fascination CD. With the Zehetmairs you're rarely aware of bar-lines, more a constant flow of ideas, a compelling journey with a stated destination but with little need of pedantic signposting en route. You sense that the written notes have been fully absorbed and that the playing has become, in a sense, pure instinct.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2007

“The Bartók No. 5… is almost hysterically passionate, a brilliant and exciting performance that grips from first bar to last.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2007 *****

“A few seconds into the first movement of this extraordinary version of the Fifth Quartet check whether the dynamics are being played as written – many aren't. The Zehetmairs career around the notes like bikers on a zig-zag course, tracing arches at speed with what sounds like the least effort. At the fervid build-up nearly three minutes in they lunge at the music fortissimo though for the starkly syncopated passage a few seconds later their legato handling of the viola/ cello lines tends to soften the argument's impact.
It'll take some getting used to, but persevere.
There's savagery, too – for example where Bartók asks the leader to play ff stridente and Zehetmair all but saws through his fiddle.
Don't expect either a comfortable or a familiar ride. The two symmetrically placed slow movements embrace vivid, often rough-hewn textures, from a quiet chalky treble to fierce full chords. Perhaps the most satisfying movements are the Scherzo alla bulgarese and the finale: both suggest an element of rustic dance, the finale's quieter music sounding eerily effective, especially at speed.
Hindemith's somewhat drier Fourth Quartet (1921) predates Bartók's Fifth by some 13 years.
Like the Bartók it is cast in five rather than the usual four movements, the first opening to a slow, shadowy fugato which soon flares to nearrage.
Both here and in the ferocious Scherzo the Zehetmair Quartet capture the music's radical spirit, much as they do for the equivocal, gently marching slow movement.
This is a fascinating CD. With the Zehetmairs you're rarely aware of bar-lines, more a constant flow of ideas, a compelling journey with a stated destination but with little need of pedantic signposting en route. You sense that the written notes have been fully absorbed and that the playing has become, in a sense, pure instinct.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Although many accounts of the Prokofiev have appeared over the years, none has approached, let alone surpassed, the Hollywood version of the Second Quartet. The same would no doubt apply to the Hindemith but for the fact that there have been fewer challengers. What a wonderful feeling for line these players had, what an incredible, perfectly matched and blended ensemble – and how well these transfers sound! That goes for the Walton, too: there's no other account of it that makes so positive a case for it.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The joke of Wagner and military music full of wrong notes quickly wears thin, but it's played in a nicely deadpan way. And there's real seriousness in the approach to the darker music in Op. 22.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 ****