Customer Reviews

50 Years (of) Bartok, Vol. 1: String Quartets Nos. 3, 4, & 6

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This CD is unique in that it gives us the Juilliard Qt. in Bartok across five decades. Quartet #4 dates from 1949 when the young, newly formed group made their first Bartok cycle. Quartet #3 is from 1963, memorializing their second, and most renowned cycle. Quartet #6 is from 1981, representing their third, and least regarded, cycle. We move from mono to digital stereo and stylistically from new-found wonder to mature assurance.

Competing against themselves is tough, but all three cycles have their virtues, and depending on what you happen to like on this CD, each cycle can be tracked down on Pearl (1950--my personal favorite), Retrospective (1963--the critics' general favorite) and Sony (1981--a great bargain). Bartok was the Juilliard's best composer, so none of these sets is negligible. It's true that the advent of the Alban Berg and Emerson Quartets put the Juilliard into the shade technically, but having said that, every performance on this CD is superlative, and the first from 1949 is one-of-a-kind.

P.s. -- Good news for those who have been frustrated by Sony's refusal to reissue the famed 1963 cycle. It's now available at mid-price in the U.S.