I never thought much of Efrem Zimbalist as a violinist. He has always seemed to me a somewhat pale and characterless pupil of Leopold Auer, albeit one with an exemplary technique. However, I was strangely impressed with his E minor string quartet on a new Naxos CD (Fine Arts Quartet). Written in 1931, the quartet is highly likeable; the musical language sounds turn-of-the-century Anglo-French – somewhat bizarre, seeing that Zimbalist was a turn-of-the-century Russian Jew who settled in America and apparently became rather rich through buying and selling violins and stocks and shares. Despite all that: he wrote a most attractive string quartet (as well as some excellent music for violin and piano). The Naxos disc claims to feature the “world première recording” of the Zimbalist quartet; if so, the world is a strangely fickle place when you consider all the mediocre string quartets that have been recorded over the past one hundred years.

Also on the disc is Fritz Kreisler's lovable A minor string quartet from 1919. Unlike the rootless Zimbalist, Kreisler's music remains firmly turn-of-the-century Viennese, a kind of mixture of Korngold and Zemlinsky. It's a quartet I have always enjoyed. The disc ends with Ysaÿe's soporific Harmonies du Soir for string quartet and orchestra.