CLASSICAL

Beethoven: "Complete String Quartets". Emerson Quartet. DG (7 discs). Dial-a-track code: 1641

The new Beethoven recordings from America's Emerson Quartet are self-recommending as a tour-de-force of ear-ravishing quartet playing. The performances offer a peerless demonstration of the highest levels of tonal culture and technical finesse. The fast movements of the early Op. 18 quartets can rarely have sounded at once as effervescent and luxuriantly detailed as here, or the slow movements as sumptuously cushioned within the frame-work of tempos that are generally on the fast side.

Why then, in the face of such aural riches, did a niggling doubt begin to assert itself as I listened through with undiminishing awe and respect for the perfectionism of these players? The answer was not hard to find. At every twist and turn, it's the immaculate finish of the ensemble, the astonishing achievements of balance, blend and nuance, which command the most attention. The music somehow seems to find itself in second place.

Later in the set, this externality in the playing may be felt as a much greater problem, particularly in the last quartets. In these, I felt the Emerson's preference for the explicit over the suggestive to have a narrowing effect on musical expression. But, whatever my reservations, this is a set not to be ignored by anyone at all interested in the art of quartet playing. The quality of recording matches the music-making.

Montserrat Caballe: "The Ultimate Collection" (BMG) Dial-a-track code: 1751

Like the swans of ancient legend, the heroines of bel canto opera tend to do their best singing as they're about to expire. Of the 22 heroines represented on this two-CD set, seven commit suicide, two die of consumption, one is burned alive and others are despatched by methods which range from being set upon by Sicilians to being "carried off amid fire and smoke by a dragon chariot". These classic recordings show one of the century's most perfect voices at its beguiling best. There's anger here, and jealousy; delusion and madness and lunatic courage. But there's never a harsh note from the superb Caballe; - on the contrary, some of the sounds she utters are of incredible, unearthly beauty.