complete string quartets recommendations?

[Jin]

There's a Beethoven string quartet festival going on in a nearby town and I thought it'd be a good idea to get the complete string quartets on CD in addition to going to some concerts. Trouble is, I'm totally confused by all the reviews of the box sets. This quartet plays 'em too fast, that quartet plays 'em too slow...

Does anyone here have any suggestions? I was looking at the Berg, Cleveland, Amadeus sets -- a box set would be convenient, but maybe someone could recommend a bunch of individual CDs, where different quartets play their strengths, that results in me having all the string quartets?

[Rutradelusasa]

I guess you can't go wrong with the Quartetto Italiano recordings on Philips. They can be quite energic, which some find it good and some don't.

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"Wer ein holdes weib errungen..."

[Nightklavier]

Well, I haven't heard them all, but if you want to get all the string quartets at a cheap price, go for the Naxos recordings of the string quartets. I don't think they have a "box set", but you can at least get 8 volumes (8 cd's) at $6.98 a piece.

But this is far as my thinking takes me. Maybe there are better deals out there.

[Opus131]

Originally posted by Rutradelusasa:
I guess you can't go wrong with the Quartetto Italiano recordings on Philips. They can be quite energic, which some find it good and some don't.

Energic ? I mostly find them soporiphic and quite syrupy. That much sugar in Beethoven it's just bad for your health :P

Energic groups would be something down the lines of 60s Juilliard and Takacs.

Personally my favored set is the Talich. They aren't as strong in the early quartets (their tempos are generally slower which works great in the latter quartets but not as good in the more quirky Opus 18) but their interpretation of the late quartets (alas, Beethoven's best in the genre) it's propably yet to be surpassed. Their middle quartets are also extremely good.

For the early/middle quartets for me it's a tie between the Juilliard and the Takacs. I like the Juiliard a little better, but the Takacs have the added bonus of coming in separate volumes (and it's of better quality to boot).



[This message has been edited by Opus131 (edited 07-30-2005).]

[Peter]

I agree with opus131 the best overall set is the Talich Quartet [Calliope CAL9633/9].



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'Man know thyself'

[Chris]

I agree with both of you - the Talich Quartet is my favorite.

[Ateach Asc]

I'm not at all sure that I would recommend the Talich version of the quartets. They test my patience a bit too much.

One of the versions that I seemed to have really appreciated hearing, but cannot find any more was performed by the Canadian quartet known as the Orford Quartet. If I recall, they seemed to have magnificently captured both the spirit and meaning of these compositions.

On a totally different tangent, I am particularly peeved at the fact that even on CD's the disc pressers insist on shuffling the order of the quartests. For example, in one set, the 8th, 9th, and 10th are found after the 13th, 14th and 16th quartets.

The reason that is so frustrating is the 16th qt is so final... and it seems so inapprpriate to have it followed by a qt that heralded another period in LVB's musical development.

May I ask another question please?

With regards to the 13th qt, op 130(?), which do you prefer... to hear the Grosse Fugue as the concluding movement, or to hear the replacement movement with the Grosse Fugue played by itself (as appears to be done in so many versions)? Personally, I most enjoy the Grosse Fugue as the qt's conclusion, in the manner that LVB originally framed it.



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Must it be? It must be!

[Peter]

Originally posted by Ateach Asc:
I'm not at all sure that I would recommend the Talich version of the quartets. They test my patience a bit too much.

One of the versions that I seemed to have really appreciated hearing, but cannot find any more was performed by the Canadian quartet known as the Orford Quartet. If I recall, they seemed to have magnificently captured both the spirit and meaning of these compositions.

On a totally different tangent, I am particularly peeved at the fact that even on CD's the disc pressers insist on shuffling the order of the quartests. For example, in one set, the 8th, 9th, and 10th are found after the 13th, 14th and 16th quartets.

The reason that is so frustrating is the 16th qt is so final... and it seems so inapprpriate to have it followed by a qt that heralded another period in LVB's musical development.

May I ask another question please?

With regards to the 13th qt, op 130(?), which do you prefer... to hear the Grosse Fugue as the concluding movement, or to hear the replacement movement with the Grosse Fugue played by itself (as appears to be done in so many versions)? Personally, I most enjoy the Grosse Fugue as the qt's conclusion, in the manner that LVB originally framed it.

How about the Berg quartet? Next to the Talich I think they provide the best overall set. As to the finale of Op.130, both finales work and are superb music, however only the Grosse fugue can stand on its own, so wouldn't it be a shame to lose the playful alternative Beethoven provided? Fortunately with cds we don't have to!

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'Man know thyself'