György Ligeti - String Quartets 1 & 2 - Parker Quartet

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1. String Quartet No. 1, I. Allegro Grazioso
2. String Quartet No. 1, II. Prestissimo
3. String Quartet No. 1, III. Tempo di valse
4. String Quartet No. 1, IV. Subito Allegro Con Moto
5. String Quartet No. 2, I. Allegro nervoso
6. String Quartet No. 2, II. Sostenuto, molto calmo
7. String Quartet No. 2, III. Come un meccanismo
8. String Quartet No. 2, IV. Presto furioso, brutale
9. String Quartet No. 2, V. Allegro con delicatezza
10. Adante and Allegro I. Andante
11. Adante and Allegro II. Allegro

The Parker Quartet is one of four ensembles to have come out of New England Conservatory's prestigious Professional String Quartet Training Program. Like the other three, the Parker - which graduated from the program in 2008 and whose members were also undergraduates at NEC - has started down the often treacherous path of being a full-time, professional quartet. The quartet recently released its second CD: the two string quartets of Hungarian composer György Ligeti, along with an early Andante and Allegretto (Naxos). If these recordings are anything to go by, the Parker's future is bright indeed. Both quartets consist of knotty, difficult music. The first, written in the mid-1950s, takes off from Bartok and is full of the older master's angular melodies, jarring rhythms, and crunchy dissonances; the second - one of Ligeti's best-known chamber pieces - unveils a kaleidoscope of unusual textures.
The Parkers tear through this music with both pinpoint precision and a spectacular sense of urgency. Whether the music floats or pounds, they play with a confidence of those speaking a native language.
The quartet's website features two videos made at the recording sessions, and for all the music's nervous intensity, the Parker Quartet's members seem to radiate an air of calm mastery over it. For years, the preferred recording of these two works has been that by the Arditti String Quartet in Sony's Ligeti Edition; this is the first real competition to come along, as the Parkers match them at virtually every turn.
Hopefully the quartet, currently in its second season in residence with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, will soon make a visit to its old stomping ground. Until then, this excellent CD will serve as proof positive of its potential.
- The Boston Globe, David Weininger

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