Katok Ensemble: Le Temps Suspendu

The Strad Issue: August 2025

Description: Two epic masterpieces are caught on the wing

Musicians: Katok Ensemble

Works: Beethoven: String Quartet op.132. Schubert: String Quintet D956

Catalogue number: B RECORDS LBM076 (2 discs)

The opening of Schubert’s String Quintet is exquisite, with a touch of yearning from the first cello. After the ensuing drama, the second subject for two cellos seems to have all the time in the world, without losing the pulse of the movement. The playing, so strong in one place, can seem weightless in another, glistening and somehow vulnerable. It is understated, intimate, but always compelling. The Katok players remind you of how much of this movement is marked piano and softer.

The second movement goes further down still, to ppp, and is imbued with wonder and fragility, although the torrid central F minor section is, if anything, a little too beautiful, and could have done with more grit. There is a touch of daintiness to the scherzo, beautifully manicured but holding back a little on Schubert’s sforzandos; the trio is a delight, like a sustained, whispered prayer. The final Allegretto offsets a twinkling staccato, dancing momentum with lush melodic playing.

From the outset, Beethoven’s A minor Quartet op.132 is dynamically alive, fluid and emotionally restless. The second movement floats along amiably, flecked with little bulging hairpins, and the central A major section is a light, glistening delight. The hushed, intimate hymns of the third-movement Molto adagio – their gentle contrapuntal weaving beautifully balanced – is a profound and moving meditation within which the D major episodes are a fine mix of freshness and precision, full of vitality.

By the end of the movement, the players have entered a different and deeply spiritual world. The following Alla marcia is perhaps not quite the energetic wake-up call to be found in the finest readings, but it is crisply done, and the sparkling finale has plenty of its own energy.

The recording of this live performance at the Katok Ensemble’s own festival in Ardèche is warm and clear, and the balance is exemplary.

TIM HOMFRAY