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36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelously Intimate Communication, January 7, 2003
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
The string quartet is the highest achievement of classical music. How to describe what a great string quartet is/does? Four voices that sing, simultaneously dependently and independently. Or, as Goethe said, "a conversation among four very intelligent and witty persons." After almost 200 years, Beethoven's 16 quartets still stand as the acme of the form, notwithstanding brilliant contributions from just about every important composer since. There are many wonderful performances of the Beethoven quartets available on CD, but none are more distinguished than these performances by the Talich Quartet. More than any other ensemble in my experience, the Talich's performances proclaim that intimacy is the true experience of quartet playing (and listening). Every phrase is projected with exquisite attention to the constantly shifting balance of light and shadow that is the hallmark of the greatest quartet playing. Tempos are vigorous without being rushed, rubato is applied in the subtlest way imaginable, and dynamics seem to explore impossible distinctions between pp and ppp. In short, every performance in this set invites you to carefully listen to Beethoven's musical argument as you've never listened before. As a result, unless you own really sophisticated speakers, the best way to hear these performances is over headphones. (Sound quality is a bit dry, but the acoustic suits the Talich's style perfectly.) Last and certainly least: note the price. Originally available on seven premium-priced CDs, the new Soft Box format provides elegant packaging at a handsomely reduced cost. There is no one way or best way to play this music; Beethoven's accomplishment is too rich to be captured by any one performance or performing group. But the Talich recordings stand among the very best you'll ever hear. It's a very great privilege to listen in on their kind of conversation!
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent Reading of Challenging Music, February 4, 2004
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
I'm normally a period-instrument listener, almost to the exclusion of everything else. There is no complete cycle of Beethoven's string quartets on period instruments, so I hunted around for a good modern instrument set, and was directed to this one. I am thrilled with the result. The Quatuor Talich give a magnificent reading of this music, allowing the graces and nuances of Beethoven's sometimes fiendishly difficult music to shine through. Two words of criticism--the cover for the box set has got to be THE WORST classical album cover I have ever seen--godawful Blake-meets-Stanley Kubrick garbage that belongs on an album of bad early-80s synthesiser music. AND--Amazon customers, be warned: I picked up this set at a local record store for $39.98 CANADIAN--that's $29.98 in the US at current coversion rates. Why is Amazon stiffing its customers by charging $55.00 US? This is supposed to be a bargain-basement set (as the bargain-basement cover will tell you). Please, Amazon, reprice this fine set now!
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Talich + Beethoven = Old world charm!, January 21, 2003
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
The Talich Quartet on the Calliope label play the Beethoven quartets with that distinguished old-world charm, full of warmth and relaxation, neatly unfussy and memorable by the radiant tone to which this ensemble has the solution. (Also read my fellow reviews appraisal.) The early quartets I enjoyed perhaps the most. They play all six quartets (Opus 18 no. 1-6) like they were just sitting around a fire place making music for the love of music. This can be said of all sixteen quartets really. The middle quartets (Op. 59 no. 1-3, Op. 74, Op. 95) hold up well against a lot of classic and modern versions, including the Vegh, Guarneri, Italian, Budapest and Emerson Quartets. I really thought the Talich version of Opus 59 no. 2 was perhaps the best I`ve ever heard. The late quartet performances (Op. 127, 130, 131, 132, 133 and 135) are fabulous as well, holding their own against the Busch, Budapest, Vegh, Guarneri, Italian, etc. The recordings are captured in a very fine, logically balanced analog recording. Finally, I wouldn't give up my other sets for only these interpretations, BUT if I were on that infamous desert island and could only have this set, I would be extremely happy to live out my days with this one.
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