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Beethoven String Quartets, Symphonies...


Guest Chaney

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Anyone know of this material performed on period instruments? (I could be wrong but, aside from clem's post, I don't think any of the above recommendations involve the string quartets using period instruments.)

The critics usually are very unforgiving when listening to Beethoven or other grand masters on period instruments - this may play a part in those ensembles rarely attempting those works.

One that was well received and is at the top of my Beethoven wish list:

HMU907254.jpg

on Harmonia mundi France USA branch. (Their Mendelssohn and Schumann quartets are great - here's a link to their page on the label's website).

I have one of the quartets op. 18 by the Smithsonian String Quartet but this is OOP. I will look for others.

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Just confirmed the Schuppanzigh Quartett from Cologne recorded the Streichquartette op. 18/4 & op. 59/3 on the instruments from Beethoven's legacy that are preserved at the Beethoven house in Bonn!

Here's a link to their discography page with listening samples - it's in German, but simply click on the MP3 symbols to hear them. The label (Ars Musici) is somewhat hard to get, but I will inquire.

p.s. It is available from amazon.de, and also via Caiman - so it should be available from caiman in the US as well.

1821057.jpg

Here's a review of that CD in English language.

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My favorite Beethoven symphonies performances:

3 - Philharmonia Orchestra London/Otto Klemperer - EMI (the 1956 mono recording, not the later stereo remake)

3 - Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam/ Pierre Monteux - Philips

4 - Philharmonia Orchestra London/Otto Klemperer - EMI

5 and 7 - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Carlos Kleiber - DG; these are absolutely stunning performances!

6 - Philharmonia Orchestra London/Otto Klemperer - EMI

9 - Philharmonia Orchestra London/Wilhelm Furtwängler - Tahra (live performance at the 1954 Luzern Festival, Switzerland)

A quick check of my collection reveals over 70 Beethoven symphonies, including J. A. W.'s very fine recommendations.

A very fine set, available inexpensively and easy to overlook is Cluytens/Berlin on EMI. These late '50s recordings have delighted whenever I play them. I was introduced to them via a Seraphim box in the very early '70s.

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... of course, radical doesn't always equal great... Valery Afanassiev, whom I often love, went overboard w/his recent pc's, but i still think his Diabelli (Denon) is staggering... the Brautigam series on BIS looks to be killa' tho' I'd love to hear my man Andreas Staier take a crack at 'em. if ya'll dunno his Mozart & Schubert recordings (Teldec) for starters...

In this case you should check out Paul Komen's take on the Diabellis on Ars Musici - I love it!

B000935U76.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I have followed Staier's career from the beginning and seen him perform several times, but I find he's a little too controlled in the studio - compared to his live performances, which are on the same level artistically, but he takes more chances.

For me the top historic piano man in Europe at the time is Jos Van Immerseel, who also cut a Beethoven disc many years ago.

B000026S1C.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

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Second (third? Fourth?) the Takacs recordings. Completely brilliant. I discovered the Takacs quartet from recommendations here for their recordings of the Bartok quartets (truly sublime and highly recommended).

The Takacs is great! They did amazing renditions of some of Haydn's quartets.

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I also like the cycle by the Alban Berg Quartet.

I forgot it, great performance too, at least for the middle Quartets, that I owned long time ago. :tup

Not to offend anyone, but I never really liked the Alban Berg Quartet, too mannered to my ears.

No offense taken at all. One's reaction to a particular interpretation of a classical composition is a very subjective and personal thing. Besides, the Beethovan string quartet cycle is notoriously hard to pin down.

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Don't know anything about period instrument Beethoven string quartets. The only period instrument recordings of string quartets I have are the performances of Haydn string quartets by the (French) Quatuor Mosaïques. They're great.

Second that. :tup

Third that. :tup But be forewarned, lots of heavy breathing. Then again, if you listen to some Keith Jarrett first, you won't even notice it.

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Don't know anything about period instrument Beethoven string quartets. The only period instrument recordings of string quartets I have are the performances of Haydn string quartets by the (French) Quatuor Mosaïques. They're great.

Second that. :tup

Third that. :tup But be forewarned, lots of heavy breathing. Then again, if you listen to some Keith Jarrett first, you won't even notice it.

But it's French heavy breathing... :o:D

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Don't know anything about period instrument Beethoven string quartets. The only period instrument recordings of string quartets I have are the performances of Haydn string quartets by the (French) Quatuor Mosaïques. They're great.

Second that. :tup

Third that. :tup But be forewarned, lots of heavy breathing. Then again, if you listen to some Keith Jarrett first, you won't even notice it.

But it's French heavy breathing... :o:D

Actually, it's three quarters Austrian. :P

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Don't know anything about period instrument Beethoven string quartets. The only period instrument recordings of string quartets I have are the performances of Haydn string quartets by the (French) Quatuor Mosaïques. They're great.

Second that. :tup

Third that. :tup But be forewarned, lots of heavy breathing. Then again, if you listen to some Keith Jarrett first, you won't even notice it.

But it's French heavy breathing... :o:D

Actually, it's three quarters Austrian. :P

But at least their name was French... (As far as I know they disbanded)

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Ohh, I'm late to the party on this one.

Sorry, guys, I REALLY dislike the Guarneri Quartet set. I got rid of it...and I hardly ever get rid of anything.

Quartetto Italiano is interesting but over-romanticized and soupy in places, especially in the later quartets.

The Emerson Quartet set is a HUGE disappointment. I get tired of all their pausing as if to say, "OK, dumbass, listen up, something important is about to happen."

A set I really like: The Talich Quartet on Calliope. It's out in a budget-priced box, I think. Low-pressure, charming, warm performances, with wonderfully in-tune playing, unlike the vaunted Vegh.

I still haven't heard the Takacs. Gotta do something about that.

Shoot me, but I like the Alban Berg in most of the late quartets. But only in the late quartets.

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Anyone familiar with the complete Beethoven set rec. 1969-72 by the Bartok String Quartet? I've had their middle quartets on Hungaroton LPs for years and remain impressed. For the late quartets, he said -- preparing to be hit very hard with a big stick -- I kind of like the Fine Arts. For some strange reason my LP set of the early quartets (also the Bartoks? I'm not sure) seems to have vanished, so I'm in the market for a complete set if a really satisfying one exists. Over the years I've had and dumped the Guarnieri (middle) and the Hollywood (late), probably several others that I don't recall now.

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