Joseph-Guy Ropartz -- student of César Franck and Vincent d'Indy and contemporary Arthur Honegger -- was a significant figure on the musical scene during his lifetime. He was not only a prolific composer throughout the span of his career, but also an active pedagogue as the head of the conservatoires in both Nancy and Strasbourg. Although often labeled as a "post-Romantic," his later works (such as the last three string quartets heard here) move away from the stylistic influences of his teachers and move along their own lean, concise path. His works are unfortunately performed infrequently and recorded even less often.
The performance offered by the
Quatuor Stanislas is somewhat mottled. From a musical standpoint, the ensemble does a splendid job of capturing the emotional content of the music. The Fifth Quartet, for example, which was composed immediately after the death of his wife, contains two wonderfully solemn adagios that are performed with a very satisfying depth of character. Other aspects of the quartet's performance are less appealing. The recorded sound is quite treble-heavy, almost to the point of being shrill. Intonation is not always what it could be, and there are ensemble problems in the very busy inner voices. Still, this album merits investigation if for no other reason than to gain exposure to Ropartz's little-known but worthwhile oeuvre.