The Escher String Quartet began their Mendelssohn series last year with the first of the number quartets, Op 12 and the second of the Op 44 set. Like the first instalment, this release was recorded before the group changed cellists last year; the lineup on this disc is different again from the one that released outstanding recordings of the Zemlinsky quartets two years ago. What’s remained constant have been the Escher’s fabulous unanimity, tonal warmth and care over detail – all qualities that are obvious in the three of the quartets here. They separate the E flat major third of the Op 44 set and the grief-stricken F minor work Op 80 – written after the sudden death of Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny in 1847 – from the third and last of the four pieces published as Op 81, the Capriccio in E minor and the Fugue in E flat. All the performances are very fine, but the Escher’s account of Op 81 is truly exceptional, driven by an intensity, and a scarcely concealed rage, that grips the music from the thrilling opening of the first movement and never slackens throughout.
