Boccherini: String Quintets 1 [Import]

Luigi Boccherini (Composer), Richard Lester (Performer), Vanbrugh Quartet (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Richard Lester, Vanbrugh Quartet
• Composer: Luigi Boccherini
• Audio CD (February 12, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Hyperion UK
• ASIN: B00005UO87
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,369 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars even if you never buy another Boccherini disc, you'll love this, July 3, 2007

By 

jsa (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Boccherini: String Quintets 1 (Audio CD)

I didn't have a single Boccherini cd in my collection until stumbling across a "Classics Today" review of The Vanbrugh Quartet's other recording of the cello quintets (Hyperion CDA67383, with guest cellist Richard Lester). "Classics Today" gave that disc a 10/10 and recommended buying this disc as well. I bought both discs and haven't regretted it.

This disc, which is the first of the Vanbrugh's Boccherini recordings w/Richard Lester, opens with the quintet in E major. By the third movement I was nearly humming along with the familiar tunes & saying to myself "I always wondered where that came from." (In fact, this music was used in the Alec Guiness classic 1955 film, "The Ladykillers," when the crooks were pretending to practice chamber music, but were actually plotting an elaborate heist.) While the other quintets aren't nearly as recognizable, they are readily accessible and immensely enjoyable.

I can't say how this disc stacks up to other recordings of the quintets as my review is based on the musical content and excellent sound quality only. This isn't the least expensive way to go with this music (I purchased at a substantial discount through an Amazon reseller) - Brilliant Classics has a series of Boccherini multi-disc cd's of the Quintets that are very well priced, so you may want to search for those as an alternative even though you won't get the same programs. I can't vouch for the quality of the Brilliant recordings, but I've read positive reviews for a number of others they've released.