Tchaikovsky: String Quartets; Souvenir de Florence

Disc 1
1	Souvenir de Florence, for
2	Souvenir de Florence, for
3	Souvenir de Florence, for
4	Souvenir de Florence, for
5	String Quartet No. 2 in F
6	String Quartet No. 2 in F
7	String Quartet No. 2 in F
8	String Quartet No. 2 in F
Disc 2
1	String Quartet No. 1 in D
2	String Quartet No. 1 in D
3	String Quartet No. 1 in D
4	String Quartet No. 1 in D
5	String Quartet No. 3 in E
6	String Quartet No. 3 in E
7	String Quartet No. 3 in E
8	String Quartet No. 3 in E
Tchaikovsky: String Quartets; Souvenir de Florence
1.	Souvenir de Florence, for string sextet or string orchestra in D major, Op. 70 35:04
	Composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
	Performed by James Dunham, Paul Katz and Ying Quartet
2.	String Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 22 34:04
	Composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
	Performed by Ying Quartet
3.	String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 29:30
	Composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
	Performed by Ying Quartet
4.	String Quartet No. 3 in E flat minor, Op. 30 37:51
	Composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
	Performed by Ying Quartet

All Music Guide

How are the Ying Quartet's recordings of Tchaikovsky's three string quartets and his string sextet "Souvenir de Florence"? Good? No. Very good? No. Very, very good? Yes, very, very much yes.

As siblings, the Ying Quartet has just about everything going for it -- a unified sound, a cogent ensemble, and an effortless unanimity -- and as Tchaikovsky players, they likewise have just about everything going for them -- a voluptuous tone, a vivacious sense of rhythm, and an acute sense of drama. In the well-known Andante cantabile from the first quartet, they express the music's warm intimacy with an ideal balance between heart and soul, and in the less-well-known but perhaps even more affecting Andante funebre e doloroso from the third quartet, they articulate the music's deep sorrow with an ideal balance between heart and spirit.

What is it that stops the Ying's recordings from being definitive, then? That's hard to say; one can only point to the earlier Borodin Quartet's recordings by way of comparison. Where the Ying are actors performing their parts, the Borodin are people living their lives. Where the Ying are architects designing a house, the Borodin are people making it a home. Where, in other words, the Ying is outside the music, the Borodin is inside the music. So while listeners who already know and love the Borodin Quartet's recordings of Tchaikovsky may enjoy the Ying Quartet's recordings of Tchaikovsky, listeners who don't already know and love the works are urged to seek out the Borodin Quartet's recordings -- and after they fall in love with the composer's warm-hearted, deep-souled chamber music, then they can check out the Ying Quartet's recordings. Judith Sherman's digital sound is clear, deep, lush, and full. James Leonard

Gramophone

The Yings and their guests catch [the Souvenir de Florence] beautifully. It's a smashing performance, big of spirit and tone. Edward Seckerson