18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Get this set!, March 17, 2000
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
From the same label (Arte Nova) that brought you Zinman's extaordinary Beethoven symphony cycle comes this set of Beethoven's string quartets, which I consider nearly as great an accomplishment. Actually, I purchased this bargain set more out of curiosity than anything else. I already owned the highly praised Emerson Quartet cycle (see my review) and had been pretty disappointed with it. Needless to say, my expectations for this set were not very high...Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! Now this was more like it! In my opinion, this is precisely how Beethoven's string quartets should be played, ie. with technical accuracy combined with emotional intensity. The one thing that had bothered me most about the Emerson set was their seeming lack of emotional attachment to the music. The Alexanders have that "Innigkeit" in spades, which really makes their performances come alive. The Alexanders make the fast movements quick and exciting to listen to, the slow movements flowing and exquisitely detailed. The technical side of their playing is likewise of high caliber, if not on the Emerson's level. The recordings themselves are quite vivid with excellent definition and clarity. All in all, this set would be tough to resist at any price. At its super bargain price, this is truly a must-own! Yep, I think Arte Nova has another winner on its hands!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a surprise!, April 10, 2000
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
At a budget price, this recording of the Beethoven String Quartet cycle cannot be beat! I picked this up at a mortar and brick store out of sheer curiousity and mainly because of the cheap price, and I was surprised by its great value. The quality of the recording is not bad and the musicianship is outstanding. Their attention to detail makes their performances a joy to listen to over and over again. The balance is great and if you like a big viola sound, check out these recordings. Maybe not as impressive as the Emerson or some of the more well known quartets, but give these guys a chance and you won't disappointed. Don't be put off by the bargain price.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
superlative accounts of the Beethoven quartets, December 13, 2006
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
The Alexander String Quartet doing the Beethoven quartets manages to combine a robust, cohesive ensemble tone with a lively sense of color and a deep, unshakable poise, and their controlled exuberance produced superlative accounts for a bargain of a price. Even if you already own a number of Beethoven - Complete String Quartet sets, this one features the viola, much like the Vegh set featured the cello. And the sound quality is excellent!
If you don't believe my praises, then check out these quotes...
*** These are passionate, hold-your-hats recordings that invited comparisons to the Budapest String Quartet. I haven't heard comparable electricity from anybody else in the intervening years, in a style where finesse is secondary to unbridled fury, force and velocity. It was the most exciting quartet experience in years. Their rhythm and speed were dazzling. ~ SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
*** Every phrase and line, every textural effect, every structural element, every sforzando, every legato, every hairpin dynamic shading, every articulation-in short, every musical detail-was performed so precisely, in so shapely a fashion, and in such perfect balance with every other detail, that I felt my mind irresistibly and uninterruptedly held deep inside the world of Beethoven's imagination, which was immensely enlarged-so to speak-from within. ~ THE SAN DIEGO READER
*** They played as a tight group, carefully responding to each other, balancing lines, mirroring attacks. At times, they were as ferociously impressive as a small group of precision fighter pilots going through aerial maneuvers at breakneck speeds. ~ LOS ANGELES TIMES
*** Their version of Opus 59, No. 1 in E minor attained a rare sense of mystery and expectation in the elliptical moderations and silent bars of the first movement, summoned warmth and severity for the slow movement and a compelling gusto for the finale. Every change of tempo was geared perfectly to the dramatic implications of the music. The Alexander Quartet is destined for greatness. ~ THE GUARDIAN (London)
*** Stunning Ensemble On the evidence of their Beethoven Op. 59, No. 2, this is a group whose synthesis of strongly characterized individual voices is resilient enough to take inspiring risks, and sophisticated enough to see them through with imaginative sensitivity. ~ THE TIMES (London)
*** Beethoven's Quartet in C major (Op. 59, No. 3) asked the riskiest comparisons with senior quartets, yet this performance needed no explanation. ~ THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
*** I continue to be impressed by the Beethoven cycle by the Alexander String Quartet, founded in New York in 1981. [The Quartet No. 13 and Grosse Fugue] are played with impressive power and lyricism. ~ THE DENVER POST
*** In Opus 135, the Alexander demonstrated a remarkable ability to sustain a long, slow line. ... 'Must it be?' was played with the necessary sense of inevitability that Beethoven's ringing, affirmative answer, both to the question, and to the contradictions of the human condition, 'It must be!' demands. ~ THE BUFFALO NEWS
*** These musicians have a sophisticated grasp of quartet-playing. They perform with an in-built awareness of each colleague's line, in terms of both phrasing and coloring. Tones are blended, there is a delicate facility to the bowing and a unanimous ebb and flow to the delivery. They also have a sensitive ear for balance, gradating their sound-levels tactfully. Such general urbanity was much in evidence for Beethoven's overblown A major Quartet from his Opus 18. Most memorable for compositional quality was the Andante's charming Viennese mix of inwardness and self-confidence, but the Alexander's committed integrity of approach was a joy. ~ THE BIRMINGHAM POST (U.K.)
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