I've just started appreciating chamber music and I want to buy recording/s of the Beethoven String Quartets. If possible, I'd like some reasonably recent recordings in fabulous sound.
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions?
Starting with the late quartets is usually a mistake for most people. It was for me; I started out with the Yale Quartet's set of the late quartets, when it was the only cheap way to hear the Beethoven Quartets in decent sound. It took me many years to appreciate them - I'd have been better off starting with Op. 18 or 59.My first introduction to these works was the Emerson's recording of the late quartets, and it never did anything for me.
I am listening to them now.Many years ago, I had a conducting teacher, with whom I was taking a chamber music literature course, talk to me about the wide variety of styles and content of the Beethoven Quartets. I commented on the extreme difficulty of the late quartets, whereas he began to tell me of a conversation he had (he was a violinist) with a member of one of the famous quartets of the time (and I cannot remember which), sometime between 1940 and 1970. He had asked this person about the problems of the quartets, and which one his ensemble found the trickiest. Without hesitation, he looked at my teacher and said, "opus 18, number 1."
Any time a quartet ensemble attempts these works-and it seems the ones worth their salt all must have a go at them-they feel there is something new or particularly significant they bring to the table. If it is solely an ego trip, say just to prove that they have the mettle to present these works, failure is guaranteed. I know of many sets of the complete quartets that absolutely do not measure up, and no, I am not going to name them! But I will include this set under review as being among the best I have heard, any time or anywhere. There is a reason why the Dover Quartet has been so often compared to the legendary Guarneri. They may not have the burnished warmth of the Alban Berg, the incisive technical precision of the Emerson or the old Juilliard, or even the interpretative finesse of the Budapest. What they do have is a large enough slice of each of these musical pies to put together, at least in these first six, an extraordinary and intensely moving account of each. The Guarneri was known for the "rightness" of its interpretations-they had an instinctive sense of what the essence of any piece was about, and the ability to convey this to the fullest. by Audiophile Audition | Nov 18, 2020
Oddly enough, I actually connected very quickly with the Grosse Fuge. But yes, everything else didn't click. Now, though, it is the late quartets that I return to the most. The 15th in A Minor is one of my absolute favorites. And I still love that Grosse Fuge.Starting with the late quartets is usually a mistake for most people. It was for me; I started out with the Yale Quartet's set of the late quartets, when it was the only cheap way to hear the Beethoven Quartets in decent sound. It took me many years to appreciate them - I'd have been better off starting with Op. 18 or 59.
I've always found the 'Emerson hate' a bit bewildering. This is a quartet that most people agree are technically very proficient, yet are often stereotyped as being 'cold' (see also Rattle 'micromanaging', HVK 'smooth', etc). As a set I'd have no problems recommending the Emersons in Beethoven (but there are few complete sets i wouldnt endorse, tbh). Is it the best or one of the best complete sets out there? Hard to generalise. What I will say is that in certain quartets the Emersons are very good indeed (listen to both of their accounts of the 16th SQ). Elsewhere they arent the finest but many ensembles arent either. The late quartets are possibly where many feel they are strongest and i'd partially agree with that assessment but again thats a generalisation. I think youre right, Kreisler, that the Emersons are now considered 'old new' but does that invalidate their approach? Well not for me. I suppose it depends what youre looking for. We all have our favourites but im finding the more I revisit others' performances the more i appreciate them. Truth is my tastes keep changing and I like to revisit. There is nothing worse than a fixed mindset, for me.When the Emerson came out in the late 1990s it was the most brilliant of the "virtuoso modern" approaches (like Alban Berg, Guarneri, Cleveland...) Quartets have become so highly proficient since then that such blistering tempi, virtuosity are not special anymore. But on the flipside the Emersons had been considered "cold" since they came out, I believe.
That dilettante doesn't deserve a tithe of the attention he receives. He helps propagate so much of what are the worst and most harmful anti-musical, anti-artistic tendencies, among a certain prevalent class of classical music afficionados.Here's David Hurwitz's take on the best complete cycles:
Could you be a bit more specific about which tendencies you mean?He helps propagate so much of what are the worst and most harmful anti-musical, anti-artistic tendencies, among a certain prevalent class of classical music afficionados.
There's a whole thread abiut the massive problems with Hurwitz. I'm not going to derail this thread, but if you're truly interested, it's a pretty exhaustive discussion. Short answer: his obsession with "The BEST," with himself as arbiter or the BEST, of course.Could you be a bit more specific about which tendencies you mean?
You obviously didn't bother to watch this particular podcast. He highlights not one, not two, but sixteen favorite sets, and quite an interesting mixture of older and newer traversals.There's a whole thread abiut the massive problems with Hurwitz. I'm not going to derail this thread, but if you're truly interested, it's a pretty exhaustive discussion. Short answer: his obsession with "The BEST," with himself as arbiter or the BEST, of course.
Of course not! I've had my fill of his blather.You obviously didn't bother to watch this particular podcast.
Then you should feel free not to participate in a discussion of this video.Of course not! I've had my fill of his blather.