Boccherini was a little less indulgent in his string quartets than in his string quintets, which are more numerous: here he couldn't allow so many fanciful flights for the cello into the upper reaches of the treble clef, nor could he create textures of quite such luxuriance. But the range of invention in these four works, composed in his compositional prime in 1780, is extraordinarily wide. The gem of this group is the A major work, with its graceful 6/8 opening, its pathetic, chromatic Andantino lentarello, its haunting little minuet with its echoing open E strings, and its brilliant and ebullient finale.
This was recorded many, many years ago by the Carmirelli Quartet (for Decca), whose Boccherini style was a model. The present group, the Quartetto Borciani, probably play it more perfectly in a sense, but the magic isn't quite so well captured. Named after the leader of the much admired Quartetto Italiano, this group play in a manner close to their model, with passion, intensity and accuracy, and their soft playing is wonderfully smooth and controlled, with a fine, veiled sound. In the quick movements they're a little sharper, more incisive in articulation than sometimes seems ideal for this music (they use modern instruments), but certainly the result is enormously spirited.
This is very fine quartet playing and immensely endearing music; you can hardly ask for more.