Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Complete String Quartets [Box Set]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just finished listening to Opus 59 No. 1 and had to write. This is one of the greatest recordings of the one of the greatest quartets played by one of the greatest quartets I have ever heard. Perhaps the greatest. The Quartetto Italiano had the perfect intonation, phrasing, tone, and dynamics that one expects from a modern quartet (they performed from 1945 to 1981), but their musical intelligence, their sense of line, and their intense and continuous concentration was extraordinary. I listened to the great third movement with tears running down my cheeks., I don't remember that happening since a performance by the Tokyo at Caramoor many years ago. The recording is technically perfect, clean and clear with appropriate channel separation. It sounds like four mikes with the mix done by a musical and technical expert. The original recordings were made in Switzerland between 1967 and 1975 and may have been remixed for these CDs. Whoever worked on this Phillips release deserves the thanks of all chamber music fans.

The Beethoven Quartets are a great artistic test for any quartet. No quartet passes it with such ease as the Italian Quartet. In these recordings, they combine both intense beauty, and great depth. They're intonation is faultless, and their unity of purpose complete.

Whilst with playing of such calibre it seems wrong to single any one player out, the playing of cellist Franco Rossi is particularly beautiful.

This quartet are the Murray Perrahias of the quartet world.

I have been listening to this set of the Beethoven quartets since the mid-70's. I never tire of these performances. I have over the years purchased other performances of the Beethoven quartets by the Emerson, Berg, Borodin, and Takacs but the QI's version is the one to which I return. There are no other performances that match the QI's for balance and crispness, detail and passion, And I have always admired Franco Rossi, the cellist, for his wonderful singing tone -- especially in the Op. 59 F maj. I can only agree with the other reviewers praise of the late quartets especially the Op. 132.

It is said that when Schubert was about to die, he asked to listen to Beethoven's Op 131 for the very last time. Listen to this magnificient recording and you'll see why such a genius was so impressed and always felt not to have come close to Ludwig von's masterity. The other 9 discs are well filled of music which flows from a sublime soul. I'd rather own the entire set of Quartets than split them between "early" and "late" ones. Any way you can, make sure you have this opus in your collection.

Such complete works as this - spanning the composer's lifetime - make for an excellent study in the composer's musical evolution. Although termed "early" works, Beethoven's first Op. 18 Quartets were composed when he was around thirty, having dozens of brilliant compositions behind him. These first quartets show both the 'restrained' classical forms and mannerisms of Haydn but with notable evolutions like the introduction of deeply emotional and tragic writing (the slow movement of the No. 1 for example).

The "middle period" quartets (op. 59, 74, 95) shows Beethoven at his most "Heroic" style composing broad, sweeping, and increasing complex part writing - so much that the fickle Viennese audiences used to Haydn's and Mozart's classical style were not quite sure what to think of them.

Even more abstract to audiences (outside Beethoven's quartet friends) were the late works (Op. 127, 130-135) which progress to totally new ideas, sounds and organization. These included unusual, frequent and unexpected shifts in dynamics, tempo and key modulations. But most historic was an intangible emotive quality Beethoven introduced to music which might be termed "spirituality." What is most amazing is that these musical revolutions all were developed when in Bethoven's final years lived in a state of sadness, illness, deafness and isolation. Yet, having a lifetime of notes and music in his head, his composing skills were not limited at all by this deafness but perhaps even more focused. With their highly evolutionary form and spiritual nature, the late quartets are in a category of their own and have provoked many an analysis as to their meaning and connection to Beethoven's final years.

The Quartetto Italiano show why they were a legendary quartet in the 60's and 70's with a remarkable performance of great depth here. Complementing them is a vibrant Philips recording in spite of its 60's heritage. The sound is very good but just a little shy of depth and richness as compared to the modern DDD recordings like the new Takacs recordings (but absolutely nothing to deter purchase). Their playing is masterful, dramatic and probing - all while maintaining their characteristic smooth and emotive style that has endeared them for generations. However, in some movements it seems the Italians don't quite find the right flow and essence and sound stagnated compared to others (the e-minor Op. 59 for one).

Other notable quartets for these works include the Takacs, Emerson, Busch, Vegh, Talich, Alban Berg and Lindsay Quartets. All the above are rated 3/3 stars by Penguin Guide, so competion is fierce and it really comes down to what stylistic nuances most appeal to you (Best to pick a set and focus on the intricacies of the music vs. comparing quartet A to B too much). Other reviews below give some insights into the comparitive performance as each brings something different and insightful to the music. My first choices would be the Takacs or Alban Berg.

But, as far as value and quality of performance, this neatly-packaged Philips complete set of 10 CD's is a good historic choice - although the superb Alban Berg set on EMI is a great value too. The Takacs and Lindsay sets are the most expensive. Compositions - 5 stars, Performance - 4 stars, Sound - 4 stars.

Little needs to be added about a series of recordings of such depth and breadth, so let's be brief: this is an exalted collection of chamber pieces that rank among the very best in the history of Western music. In particular, the Grosse Fuge stands out as the great dividing line of its era, prefiguring Shoenberg, Webern, Berg, and scores of others a century later. Unlike anything produced in its day, the Fuge represented a technical and conceptual quantum leap from compositional methodologies of the past, and survives today with its power and complexity undiminished. Quartetto Italiano perform magic on these scores, and these sessions should be a foundation for any collection of classical music.

I have listened to a number of performances of the Beethoven string quartets over the years, and I believe I can honestly say this one surpasses them all. There's an effortlessness here which belies the ensemble's mastery. It is as though the Quartetto Italiano had been born especially to play these works. There is a serenity here, an inevitability, which gives the listener the deepest kind of pleasure. Highlights are the three Rasumovsky quartets, played with grace, nuance, and quiet power.

There are obviously many recordings of Beethoven's string quartets. This is my favorite performance of them, and the depth of feeling is unparalleled. In particular, Op. 131 is perhaps the most beautiful music ever written. The performance of the allegro molto vivace movement is lithe and delightfully playful while the adagio quasi un poco andante movement is impossibly slow and as somber as a funeral. It must be the rarest performance to have so mastered such breadth of style and emotive content. On this basis, the best performance of Beethoven's string quartet warrants the five stars, but be forewarned that the recording is of only passable quality. Though made in the 1970s, one might well guess its vintage as a decade earlier.

This recording was recommended in the NPR Guide to Classical Music, which has been a little spotty at times. I was absolutely wowed by this title, though.

The recordings are rich and personal and communicate all of the wonderful closeness and intensity of chamber pieces. The body of work represented here is large--it takes a long time to listen to them all. I was astonished at the consistency of the performances, of their ability to show the progression of Beethoven's work against a common style and approach.

When I first received this gift, I put the first 5 disks in my CD changer and stretched out on the hardwood floors in the sun and just listened to the music reverberate all around me. The effect was magical.

Five stars are not enough. If Amazon had the equivalent of the Penguin guide's rossettes, this would get a double rossette!.

The warmth of tone, precise execution, excellent ensemble, and inspired interpretations from the Quartetto Italiano make for the most richly rewarding experience avaialbe to the string quartet listener. Add first rate engineering from Philips, and you have one of the greatest treasures in recorded music.

And for a bargain basement price too!

No hesitations. Get this one while you can.