In the middle of its project to record all six of the string quartets of
Béla Bartók, the
Euclid Quartet has released a CD of the String Quartets No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6, half of the cycle and, oddly enough, what would be expected on a second volume, not the first. Be that as it may, this is an exciting recording that admirers of the
Bartók quartets will relish, no doubt anticipating a follow-up album of the remaining No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5, and making comparisons with other great recordings and great quartets while they listen. If two outstanding ensembles come to mind as possible influences on the
Euclid Quartet, or at least as worthy exemplars, the
Juilliard String Quartet and the
Takács String Quartet appear to have had a strong effect on this group's thinking and interpretations of
Bartók's music. With a group as technically assured as the
Euclid Quartet obviously is, and as fully versed in the intricacies of these works, one can move past the usual questions about managing the difficulties these pieces present and advance directly to the matter of whether they have grasped
Bartók's spirit. In the same way that the
Juilliard captured the bite of
Bartók's avant-garde counterpoint, and the
Takács grasped the fire of the folk music that informed him, the
Euclid has a firm hold on both the music's modernist and the folklorist elements. This quartet has made quite a leap from its previous recording of the late Romantic string quartets of the Moravian composer Hugo Kauder to the acerbic and brooding quartets of
Bartók, but this body of works -- a veritable bible of extended string techniques -- has become the acid test of most virtuoso quartets, and the
Euclid Quartet has demonstrated that it is pure gold in these spectacular performances. Artek has provided exceptional sound, with a wonderfully resonant ambience that takes nothing away from the strings' penetrating colors.