Customer Reviews

Beethoven: String Quartets Op.59, No.3 'Razumovsky'; Op.74 'Harp'; Great Fugue

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The Budapest quartet was at its peak in the 1940's. Then Sasha Schneider left, and the quartet started to sound different. Mr. Schneider rejoined the Budapest in 1955, and for a few short years, the quartet managed to reach twin peak number two.

The 3rd Rasumovsky quartet, the Harp, and the Grosse Fugue on this Sony CD were recorded in the 1960's, when intonation frailties were already quite evident. But frailties or not, like the previous reviewer says, the Budapest now played 'cool' music, willing and daring to take more risks.

There's a companion Sony Essential Classics CD to this one, Sony 46545. There, the Budapest plays the 1st and 2nd Rasumovsky quartets. The 1st Rasumovsky quartet was the Budapest's calling card. I strongly recommend it, for it's unmistakeable, trade-mark Budepest: warm, lyrical and broadly swinging.

Enjoy!

This set Sony has released - the Essential Classics bargain CDs truly are godsends. They feature great music performed by legends at insanely cheap prices. This CD is no exception. The Budapest String Quartet is unbelievable, and we are fortunate enough to have recordings to prove it - although they can be tough to find. We're particularly lucky with this recording though - it was recorded in the early 1960s, when a) Sasha Schneider had re-joined the group and b) when they were old guys (which was when they were making REALLY cool music). Yes, their intonation isn't always perfect...although the slips are VERY rare on this particular CD - they didn't have the luxury of modern quartets with second takes (most of their recordings are live). However, the character that they instill into the music is unmatched even today. Beethoven's music simply comes to life while they play. THis is a must have.

I also concur with the honors piled on these legendary performances. These recordings of Op. 59, No.3, Op. 74 & Op. 133 are pure perfection, with a fiery intensity and a old world enchantment. Sure there is the occasional intonation slip up, but I find it rather charming and a simple reminder that this stuff is very hard to play. In addition, you need not have reservations about the sound quality. In fact, I wish more chamber music sounded this clean and direct with not so much reverb blended into the mix. As one Amazon reviewer said - Enjoy the honest sound, the quality is marvelous. These are magnificent chamber works of Beethoven. There's also a companion Sony Essential Classics CD to this one (Op. 59, No.1 & 2) and both are a must-have for any respectable LVB collection! Such great music at such a acceptable price. A no-brainer! Oh, and just for the record, Op. 133; known as the Grosse Fugue is the best version I've ever heard.
The Budapest Quartet never drop the ball on this one.
Treasure `em!

Completely concurring with other reviewers who marvel and rejoice over this Sony Classic. Such fine music at such a reasonable price.

Particularly wanted a copy of the Great Fugue after hearing the Detroit Symphony do it, both in its original score, and updated for full, modern orchestra. Preferring the original, this is just a marvelous performance with its complexities and fugal tensions. With its changing tempos and ranges of instruments so thoroughly explored and vibrantly presented, this is such a classic piece, one wants to listen to it over and over.

This String Quartet recorded this back in early '60's, so the quality is marvelous. Enjoy the honest sound, not slicked up with all the new recording and editing capabilities. Their playing is passionate, yet not pretentious.

The second movement of the String Quartet in C Major is outstanding, with its risky progressions and extension of forms, especially its ballad like sound.

The Harp Quartet is marvelous, with its combined lower voices adding a pizzicato effect and its soaring lyricism.

I had not heard this recording since playing it on LP at least 20 years ago. What a revelation on CD! Yes, an occasional lapse in perfect intonation can be heard, but so what? I have been listening to the Berg and Takacs Quartets recently. They are fine groups, but there is a homogenized sound and interpretation that is all too common today in the performance of so-called classical music. These recordings connect us to a time when Beethoven really MEANT something. They sound very idiomatic to me in a way that the "historically correct" gang doesn't begin to touch. The rhythms are incisive, structure is tight and dynamic contrasts are strong and used very expressively. The miracle is that they were recorded in great stereo sound. This recording for me joins that select group which caught great European musicians in great sound late in their careers, e.g. Walter, Klemperer, Szell et.al. We are very lucky to have them.

What I love about this quartet's approach to Beethoven is that it is passionate without being over-sentimental. For instance, there is no excessive vibrato, no "Oh, see how passionate am I!". Instead of bringing attention to themselves what comes through is the incredible music of Ludwig Van. Also, as mentioned by others, the recording is similiarly dry : no echo or reverb tricks to muck up the sound or hide intonation slips. This makes each line of the music so much clearer.

All in all an atypical performance that is both more "modern" than others, including numerous newer sets, and more true to this music.

The price listed here is way too high as these are normally bargain disks when sold seperatly. Why is that?

Perfect is the only word that can describe this rendition. There's solemnity when it's required, panache when permissible, vigour when it's warranted - in short, "just as the Master intended". The first and last movements of op. 59 #2 of this performance moves one to tears. There's a fiery intensity combined with a sensitive understanding in all these performances that makes this a definite buy.

There's a certain je ne sais quoi about perfect renditions which makes it extremely difficult to describe their qualities in words. These particular recordings have that stamp of perfection about them - it's almost magic, the way the transitions between passion, delicateness, and blitheness are done.

About the music itself - the Harp is relatively uninteresting; and the Große Fuge has been discussed too much. The Razumovskys, I feel, are talked about less than they should be. #1 is almost a symphony, with the resolution in the final movement as perfect as any. #2 is dense, the buildup patient and painstaking, the scherzo wonderfully diverting, and the climax heart-wrenchingly passionate. #3 is somewhat of an enigma - you'll need to see if you take to it.

My childhood was infused with the 1940's (on 78's) and 1952 (monaural LP's) BSQ recordings of Beethoven and Schubert. So much so that when the new stereo recordings came out in the early sixties and I heard them for the first time I was appalled, even though I was barely 20. To me, at the time, this just was NOT the Real Thing. Now I'm trying to reassemble all the Beethoven quartets as played by the BSQ in the '40's and 1952. That turns out to be a real project, because very few of the CD's here are definitively labelled with their recording dates. Obviously Sony found it more desirable to repackage the early '60's recordings, and that's great - for those who want them. Any advice (with specifics) on how to get all the necessary information on dates and correlate it with particular CD's offered here on Amazon?