Written while still a teenager,
George Enescu's String Octet, Op. 7, already displays his impressive command over compositional techniques and presages his mature and unique musical voice. The four movements are all thematically interconnected in a virtual multimovement sonata-allegro form. This Virgin Classics album presents listeners with a string orchestra arrangement of the octet by conductor
Lawrence Foster and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. There are, of course, inherent difficulties in transcribing a chamber work for a larger ensemble. Sound quality is chief among these issues, as it is difficult to achieve the same level of intimacy with the addition of more players.
Foster tries to skirt this issue with the frequent use of a solo octet juxtaposed against the full string orchestra. This is only mildly effective, as the sections performed by the full ensemble are still quite muddy, indistinct, and even sloppy at times. Intonation also suffers, particularly in the higher registers of the first violin section. The CD also features the more mature Third Violin Sonata, performed by violinist
Valeriy Sokolov and pianist
Svetlana Kosenko. Intonation and sound quality issues heard in the octet are gratefully gone in the sonata.
Sokolov and
Kosenko provide a sultry and highly stylized performance of this oft-neglected sonata. The nimble middle section of the second movement is tossed off with playful ease, and the energetic finale is executed without so much as a single crack in sound. Definitely worthwhile for the sonata, listeners may want to look elsewhere for the octet.