Called Voces Intimae, this disc is the third volume of the complete works for string quartet by
Jean Sibelius performed by Finland's all-woman
Tempera Quartet. It contains two large-scale scores from 1890; the single-movement, 12-minute Adagio in D minor; and the four-movement, half-hour Quartet in B flat major, plus the five-movement, half-hour Voces Intimae' Quartet in D minor from 1909 as well as the world-premiere recording of the preliminary ending of that work's last movement, and, as an encore, the composer's final work for quartet, the Andante Festivo from 1922, a single-movement, five-minute work of heartrending beauty. As in the first volumes, the
Tempera Quartet's performances are consistently superlative. With an edgy tone, a tight ensemble, a strong technique, and a supple but propulsive sense of rhythm, the
Tempera grants the early works the passion-driven performances they need to convince, the mature work the savage intensity it needs to succeed, and the late work the controlled ecstasy it has to have if the whole work is not to tip over into abject sentimentality. Produced and engineered by
Hans Kipfer, this disc will be highly recommended for anyone who has heard the first two discs in the series, as well as for anyone who loves the string quartet music of
Sibelius.