This eight-disc set of Schubert's complete string quartets plus his two string quintets performed by the
Verdi Quartet has little to recommend it. Its most vexing weakness is the randomness and inconsistency of the playing. Some attacks are vigorous while others are flabby, some chords are punched while others are squishy, and some textures are powerful while others are murky. In the faster movements, the drive and panache are admirable, but it's hard to overlook the lack of tight ensemble playing. The
Quartet's tone in the slower movements varies from rich and deep to thick and soupy. The overarching interpretive approach to Schubert's oeuvre lacks coherence, so the lighter works come across as too weighty, while the more substantial and profound works seem merely arduous and overly dramatic. Hänssler's sound is curiously glutinous.