BEETHOVEN - The String Quartets - Gewandhaus-Quartett 10CD Set

Ludwig Van Beethoven (Composer), Gewandhaus-Quartett (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Gewandhaus-Quartett
• Composer: Ludwig Van Beethoven
• Audio CD (June 30, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 8
• Label: New Classical Adventure
• ASIN: B0002JA71G
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,394 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

The String Quartets

Gewandhaus-Quartett

Award Winning Recording of 10 CD's with 97 page booklet of notes

String Quartet OP. 18 No. 1-6
String Quartet OP. 59 No. 1-3
String Quartet in E Flat Major OP. 74 ('Harp Quartet')
String Quartet in F Minor OP. 95
String Quartets OP 127, 130, 131, 132, 135
Great Fugue in B Flat Major OP. 133
String Quartet in F Major after the piano sonata in E Major OP. 14 No. 1

Former members of the Gewandhaus-Quartet in conversation with Martin Hoffmeister (Including audio examples)

Dear friends of the Gewandhaus-Quartett!

We are both proud – and happy – to be able to present you with the first complete recording of Beethoven's string quartets – as preformed by the Gewandhaus-Quartett.

On the tenth CD I would like to give you the opportunity of becoming familiar with the styles of interpretation of Bethoven employed by the earlier Gewandhaus-Quartett line-ups.
One of the oldest recordings in existence of this ensemble dates from the year 1916. The Gewandhasu-Quartett of that time performed Beethoven's String Quartet in C sharp major, op. 131 in the line-up of Edgar Wallgandt and Karl Wolschke (violins), Carl Herrmann (viola) and the unforgotten Julius Klengel (violoncello). We would like to thank the 'Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk' (MDR / Central German Broadcasting Corporation) for putting a copy of the digital processing of the original shellac disc at our disposal.
Furthermore, recordings of Beethoven are to be heard performed by the Gewandhaus-Quartett from the year 1968, with the primarius Gerhard Bosse – as well as recordings from the year 1985, with the quartet line-up formed around the primarius Karl Suske. In this case we would like to send out 'many thanks' to the management of the Gewandhaus – for putting this live recording, made in the Mendelssohn Hall of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, at our disposal.
Between the examples of music, interviews with former members of the quartet should help to give an insight into their personal views – and into the specific styles of interpretation used by the Gewandhaus-Quartett during the course of the previous century. These interviews feature recordings of Martin Hoffmeister (a journalist with MDR) in conversation with Gerhard Bosse (primarius from 1955 to 1977), Karl Suske (primarius from 1977 to 1993) and Dietmar Hallmann (viola from 1959 to 1993).
In addition, out recording of the Piano Sonata op, 14 No. 1, which was transcribed for string quartet by the highly esteemed Beethoven himself, is also to be heard on this CD.
I wish you the greatest of pleasure while listening to these sound recordings – yours, most sincerely,

Frank-Michael Erden

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One More Jewel In The Crown Of Beethoven!, December 19, 2005

By 

Douglas S. Halfen "Smothered In Musique (Yum... (Baltimore, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: BEETHOVEN - The String Quartets - Gewandhaus-Quartett 10CD Set (Audio CD)

One simply cannot have _too_ many different recordings of Beethoven's 16 canonical string quartets, and the good news is that _so_ many recordings have something unique to say about how a particular group approaches these masterpieces. (Of course, we all have our favourites, and some people appear to be ready to go to war when debating Vegh vs. Lindsays vs. Italiano vs. Takacs vs. Budapest 1-2-3 etc. _My_ absolute favourite would be the Italiano. ;-)

The Gewandhaus-Quartett now stake their own claim to the rich recorded history of this music, and they yield absolutely _no_ ground to the competition. I would heartily recommend this set as a first introduction to Beethoven's string quartets, with one disclaimer: the recorded sound is a bit airy, so if you're not fond of a little reverb, then look elsewhere - namely, to the Talich Quartet, whose recorded acoustics are superbly-dry.

(In my opinion, this airiness gives the sound a chance to "breathe" and linger, which is advantageous in these works; if you don't like the sound of the Angeles Quartet's Haydn recordings, then you won't like this sound, either.)

One can stlll hear each instrument very clearly, though, and the Gewandhaus-Quartett's technique is faultless. Their tempos throughout the pieces are well-chosen, their intonation is strong and consistent, and their interplay is most complementary and well-balanced.

Additionally, in this age of paper-sleeved CDs in box sets with often-minimal booklets, this collection is presented in a _very_ nice case housing two large digipaks (holding 4 and 6 CDs, respectively) and a marvellous booklet in German, English, and French. The 10th CD features historical recordings and discussion (in German, without translation, unfortunately), as well as a performance of the Op.14-1 piano-sonata transcription by Beethoven himself.

Final Note: Amazon's price for this, at the time of my review, is ridiculous. I purchased my copy from Japan and saved a _bundle_, even with shipping being around $15. ;-)