Quartet in B flat, Op.18 No.6 - Beethoven
Quartet, Op.3 - Berg
Quartet in E flat, Op.127 - Beethoven
It is tempting to relate what is known of Beethoven's life to his music and read into the notes feelings of joy or sadness according to one's inclinations or the inclinations of the performers. The resolutely vigorous approach of the Vogler String Quartet avoided any extremes of feeling and settled for a hearty cheerfulness, sweeping away any preconceptions one may have had about the temperamental genius. This way of reading the Quartets was presented with such consistently taut attentiveness that one missed those tensions and relaxations that form music's ebb and flow. It was not that the slow movements lacked emotional charge, but that the temper of the playing was too like that of the fast movements.
Alban Berg's densely written Quartet, on the other hand, needs exactly that all-embracing tautness and resolute vigour. Without them, it could easily sound like psychological self-indulgence. The Vogler Quartet sounded its impassioned message without hesitation, bringing to the work a forcefulness that emphasised its formal strength, whereas other ensembles might concentrate on the creation of atmosphere.
Whatever they play, the Vogler give the impression of power and ebulliance and surety; they could afford to seem less skilled, to let a more shifting light illuminate their activity.
