Schumann Quartett - String Quartets

This is the second recording of the Schumann Quartett and there are a number of improvements over their first. The sound is better with the cello and viola at the proper levels. The sound is exemplary. The SAC sound must be spectacular as the two channel has great back to front depth.The quartet has changed their violist to Estonian Liisa Randalu. I'm not sure if it's this change or the engineering but the viola does sound terrific. As I mentioned in my review of their first recording, their precision is outstanding. Better still is a marvellous sense of dynamics and line. Each of the three quartets recorded for this disk is so uniquely different, and yet the Schummans have the measure as if they have been playing these for years. The members of the ensemble, brothers Erik, Ken, and Mark Schumann, along with Liisa Randalu, have impressed audiences since winning the Concours de Bordeaux in 2013. The group won the BBC award this year (2016) for best newcomer.As to the music, the Mozart sounds elegant, the Ives totally strange and the Verdi like a dynamic opera without words. I profess my lack of ears for Ives. I don't understand his penchant for throwing an old American folk-song into the middle of his compositions. Is it his idea of a musical joke? What sounds neat in Bartok only grates on my ears in Ives. That being said, I am certain some of you will love it. The Verdi is something else altogether, revelatory in fact. It is hard to believe that Verdi cobbled his one and only chamber piece together while waiting for a soprano to convalesce to open Aida. Amazing stuff performed with verve and a true understanding of Verdi's medium. Wonderful!In summary, this disk is a worthy addition to any chamber music lover's library. We eagerly await the next recording.