I think the recordings by the Takacs Quartet should meet your requirements.

 

Thank you - I'll definitely check that one out.

 

The older set by Tokyo String Quartet is quite cheaply had and has quite good sound and excellent performances to boot.

 

I love the Tokyo RCA set! Gorgeous sound and great playing. I recently picked up Quatuor Ebene which is more closely mic'd but the sound is very good as is the playing. Recorded live around the world with no audience sound.

 

The last recording is not automatically a better choice.My preference is the Alban Berg quartet and I am not so much in favor for the Takacs recordings.Choosing is a personal matter,you have to search for a really bad one.Juiliard is also very fine and not to forget the quartetto Italiano.All have their own approach and I would advise you to take your time in order to find out what is the (your) best choice.
The best recording does not exist,it is a personal matter a ,matter of taste,what I like you may dislike,so find out for yourself it is something very worthwhile.

 

Kodály Quartet is great.

 

But seriously, you need to be listening to these: they blow the rest out of the water.

 

The Takacs are IMO the set to have if you have only one. Now available (finally) as a reasonably priced set.

Best value: Probably the Tokyo on RCA, it's pretty darned good.

Best amazing superbargain: The Colorado Quartet for 99 cents. No kidding, these are fine performances and very well-recorded.
https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Co...6SWRVG/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1503350773&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0

 

You know, this topic has been talked to death already.

All one has to do is a search and you would have found a gazillion recommendations.

As has been stated already here and many other places on TC, the older Tokyo set on RCA is incredible in its consistent excellence throughout the set. A great string quartet in its prime.

 

Agree completely. I keep recommending aset that no one else has, namely the Hungarian Quartet. I first learned the music from their set of Seraphim lps and was able to purchase the CDs from a French import site. All of the above refers to their early 1960s Stereo set. Warner has just released their early 50s mono set for something like $8 and it's very fine as well.
The Tokyo set is very good. It is much better than the SACD set recorded by the Quartets final line up on Harmonia Munda--and much cheaper

 

I concur with the many others that the Tokyo (RCA) set is excellently played and recorded, and an unbelievable bargain at around $15 on Amazon. I must have paid around $80 for it years ago.

I also have the Italiano, Berg, Guarneri, and Emerson sets, all of which I like to varying degrees.

My current favorite, however, with superb playing and the best sound I've heard is the Cypress Quartet.

 

It is indeed a matter of personal taste. My favourite is the live Budapest Quartet recordings at the Library of Congress made between 1940 and 1962. However, this set may not meet your requirements as regards sound quality.

 

No argument from me, but of particular note is the complete cycle the Budapest Quartet recorded at the Library of Congress in 1951 and 52. The second violinist in these recordings is Jac Gorodetzky and not Alexander Schneider. Gorodetzky was a great violinist but was emotionally unstable and ultimately committed suicide in 1955. Alexander Schneider then returned to the quartet. A few months after this cycle was completed, first violinist Josef Roisman fell and badly broke his arm. He had difficulty recovering and probably never fully returned to peak form.
This is the best set for me. The earlier Budapest recordings are outstanding but the sound quality is not. (Sound quality of the 1951-52 set is so-so but much better than the earlier material.) Their later stereo Beethoven cycle is very good but in my opinion features the quartet slightly past its prime.

 

Everyone has their favorites and you will probably see the same dozen or so recommendations. Much of it depends on how much you want to spend and how much comparative listening you want to do.

I have over a dozen sets and I personally like the sets from Alban Berg Quartett and Quartteto Italiano the best.

 

Everyone has their favorites and you will probably see the same dozen or so recommendations. Much of it depends on how much you want to spend and how much comparative listening you want to do.

I have over a dozen sets and I personally like the sets from Alban Berg Quartett and Quartteto Italiano the best.

Yep those are the two. Still have a soft spot for the Amadeus Quartet.

 

in fabulous sound.

Tokyo (SACD Harmonia Mundi); Smetana (Denon); Alexander (Foghorn); Leipzig (MDT)

I only really know the late quartets and interpretively I enjoy all of these very much in 127-135, apart from Leipzig. But nothing follows about what you'll like, or the earlier quartets!

A good single disc from the point of view of sound and I'd say from the point of view of interpretation is The Hagen Quartet on Myrios, with a couple of early quartets and op 135

 

I second the recordings by the Quartetto Italiano, the Tokyo and the Alban Berg quartets, for their different virtues.

Pssst. But don't forget IMO the most poetic and musical version of all, if you can forgive its obvious flaws too, which is the Talich Quartet on Calliope.

 

For the greatest Quartet cycle, I don`t that there ever can be a "best" recorded set. I have most of the most of the sets listed, and a number of single CD`s. While I use the Quartetto Italiano recordings as a sort of reference, I think all the groups that have recorded the music bring their own valid view points to their perfomances.
a note on the Budapest Quartet.; As very young University student ( I entered a year sooner then most)I heard their last concert in New York City. At the time I had 4 or 5 recordings of Chamber Music, but this was my first "live" Chamber Music concert. They played in a hall very close to my school, and for 2$ I took a chance. The only work that they performed that I recall and knew was the Debussy Quartet.
If H.G. Wells Time Machine was available, I would be on it so that I could hear that concert again.

 

Wow, thanks for sharing that memory. I'm very envious.

 

The Tokyo set is very good. It is much better than the SACD set recorded by the Quartets final line up on Harmonia Munda--and much cheaper.

I agree. Sonic aside, I found their remake disappointing.

The Alexander on Foghorn is my "go-to" set, although I wouldn't part with the Hungarians or the first Tokyo.

 

Their first complete recording was very good, but I think the second is even better. Since they are located in San Francisco the name of their label is fitting. Off the Beethoven Quartets for a moment, the Alexander`s Shostakovich recordings are top notich

 

Vegh Quartet
Takács Quartet
Alban Berg Quartet

I'd add the Kodály Quartet (Naxos) as well

 

The Aris Quartet, IMHO the best newcomer in the last years, is putting out beethoven 59/3 and 131 on the market on September 8, 2017. I got the CD already and it is superb.

 

I have the Takács Quartet for the middle and late quartets and recommend them without reservation.

For the early quartets, op.18 (1-6), i have the Tokyo Quartet. The Tokyo sound quality is superb; in a direct comparison of #1 on Spotify I thought the sound quality was slightly better the Takács, fuller and more realistic. I also felt the performance was a bit livelier. BUT throughout op.18 there seemed something slightly superficial about the Tokyo quartet performances. A Guardian reviewer expressed this well:

"The Tokyo Quartet continues to prize beauty of sound and smoothness of articulation above all other musical qualities, … but ... the phrasing here is far too manufactured and uniform, the expressiveness applied like toothpaste from a tube… the Tokyo seem to skate over profundity." https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/nov/25/beethoven-late-quartets-tokyo-string-review

I agree with this, in relation to Op.18. In the later quartets, I never feel the Takács Quartet are manufactured or uniform They are always spontaneous, varied, and interesting. They also maintain beauty of sound and great articulation. Also, I see they now have a box set of the complete quartets at a reasonable price. If I was starting out I'd buy that box set.

But you are never going to get "everything" from one box set. Maybe the Tokyo box set would be a good second purchase, if sound quality and beauty of sound are your priorities. If you want greater inspiration and depth, with slightly compromised sound quality, then the Busch quartet may be the way to go.

 

So many superb sets available. Hungarians, Italians , Alban Bergs, Takacs etc.
However I would hate to look at my shelves and not see the Lindsays there.
For me way up there with the best.

 

The cycle to which I most return is that by the Talich Quartet; they have an "airiness" of tone which I find particularly appealing, and running them a close second are the sets by the Takács Quartet and Quartetto Italiano. More recently, the Endellion, Belcea and Alexander String Quartet (their second cycle on Foghorn Classics) have been very impressive.

 

Love lots. Alexander, Italiano, Alban Berg and Tokyo are all excellent.

 

As as Vegh and Fitwilliam.

 

The Alexander String Quartet has an excellent set. In particular I'm extremely impressed by their recordings of the late Beethoven string quartets. Nos. 14 and 15 in this set are remarkable.

 

Superb set. Great shout.

 

For the spiritual dimension in these works, I'd go for the Busch Quartet.

 

Re the Alexander Quartet:

Their first complete recording was very good, but I think the second is even better.

Not only is the sound much better on the second set, but the change in first violinist made a huge difference.

 

I'm seeing alot of recommendations that I don't think are great, just good. My favorites are

Budapest Quartet
Vegh Quartet
Hungarian Quartet

and for modern sound the Prazak Quartet.

 

I'm seeing alot of recommendations that I don't think are great, just good. My favorites are

Budapest Quartet
Vegh Quartet
Hungarian Quartet

All three of these groups have multiple recordings of the Beethoven Quartets - which ones are you talking about?

 

So far eighteen different String Quartets have been mentioned in this thread. Which I think proves the point that there never can be the "best" complete recording of the Beethoven Quartets. And, there will never be complete agreement on which one is best.

 

So far eighteen different String Quartets have been mentioned in this thread. Which I think proves the point that there never can be the "best" complete recording of the Beethoven Quartets.

Actually it proves only that most people have difficulty formulating a totally objective and accurate view of such things. But it is possible. See my earlier recommendation, for example. :lol: