BORODIN String Quartet No. 2. RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Quintet for Piano and Winds • Berlin German Op C Ens • NCA 60175 (SACD: 62: 04)

Could my sound system have been malfunctioning soley through my audition of Borodin’s Second String Quartet (the one with the Nocturne) as performed by a subset of the Berlin German Opera Chamber Ensemble going under the name Wolf Quartet? I heard a proficient, straight-ahead performance of a work that invites more than that, by strings with a hard, unpleasant, overbright, gut-like tone. The players do use moderate vibrato, but the overall sound is scratchy. It seems that there’s excessive on-the-string detail resulting from too-close microphones, yet the instruments are surrounded by a reverb that creates nasty ringing overtones. The Rimsky-Korsakov Quartet for Piano and Winds, much more of a novelty (mainly because it isn’t particularly interesting), was recorded in the same studio by the same engineer, yet here the players’ tone is much more pleasant. I’m inclined to blame the string players rather than my audio system, but the Borodin performance just isn’t engaging enough to merit repeated hearings. If you’re curious about the Rimsky, there are a few other good (but two-channel) recordings available, usually with couplings that, unlike the Borodin, may be new to your collection; versions on Et’Cetera, Praga, and especially Chandos have received fairly positive notices in these pages. As for the Borodin, there seems to be no other SACD version yet available (the Kocian Quartet on Praga plays the First rather than the Second), but there are many, many stylish options on conventional two-channel CD. There’s no need to acquire this release, unless you are an SACD omnivore. James Reel