The stormy start right from the first bar unfolds a complexity in the writing in which each instrument plays a totally different melodic line. The music then wanders off in a flight of fantasy and imagination, fluttering lines of rising and ebbing semiquavers in the violins. Disparate musical images are conjured up and follow one after another, but eventually the quartet meanders back to the opening statement fluently time and again. The Scherzo's primary focus is on both the opening viola theme and a resounding pizzicato motif going along in parallel, but as before the music drifts out of scheme and, unlike the strong opening, concludes vaguely.

Debussy's music is always sensuous, and in the String Quartet it manifests itself in the Andantino. Hushed sustained lines of music float in the air dreamily, until the viola picks it up and gives it a physical voice in the form of an ambiguous soliloquy. An intense outburst occurs in the climax before the excited music retreats to the dreamy tones again. The finale unites the Quartet by incorporating the opening motif and quoting from the Scherzo, all the while blending the ideas together with new material. Debussy opted for a grand-chord ending to this early composition instead of a misty trailing off which would have marked his later works.

In antithesis to Debussy's Quartet, Ravel's own starts very unassumingly, producing the mellifluously sweet main theme from the start. It contrasts with a more delicate "Spanish-Arabian kind" of melody in the development, and goes back with a more yearning version of the original theme to complete the first movement. The catchy Scherzo is surely the Quartet's most innovative moment. Here the entire quartet plays pizzicato from the start to form a cool syncopated motif, much like a percussion ensemble. Unlike Debussy's Scherzo, Ravel's music follows a more "fixed" plan - only a languid moment is brought into the movement as relief before the infectious pizzicato and rhythm takes over once again.

The following slow movement is rather strange, almost like an attempt at depicting nightfall with its nocturnal atmosphere and growing lethargy. Quite unlike Debussy's movement of ravishing beauty. Do not be too engrossed in the sleepy sounds, for one would be violently awakened by the loud hurricane of the concluding movement. Interspersed with lyric themes of the first movement, the driving tremolo passages are all the more dangerous, flowing underneath like lava threatening to boil out of a volcano. Ravel's interest in instrumental virtuosity is clearly exhibited here, pushing the performers to the limit in sustaining the drama and concluding with a blazing finale.

Claude Debussy · Maurice Ravel The String Quartets Quartetto Italiano Paolo Borciano · Elisa Pegreffi violins Piero Farulli viola · Franco Rossi cello PHILIPS Classics 420 894-2 [59'36"] mid-price

The Quartetto Italiano's recording of the Debussy Quartet is also available on a Philips disc of Debussy Chamber Music (Philips Solo 442 665-2); the Ravel is on Philips Solo 454 134-2. Each is coupled with other chamber music pieces by each composer.

The Quartetto Italiano's performance should make you feel that it is the only recording you would ever need with these two string quartets. They impress with their well-balanced ensemble playing, which is particularly important in the rich scoring of Debussy's Quartet - clarity is essential to bring out the atmosphere. Tempo changes required in this work is also handled with flexibility, without lingering around key passages or a hint of sentimentality. There is no lack of passion and fire too, and sample their confident attack in the first bar which, helped by the vivid sound of the recording, is totally impressive!