Bartok String Quartets

[T.D.]

25 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Why isn't the 1963 Julliard set currently on American (and hardly any!) CD? Sony Classical, WTF?!?!?!?!?!

Weirdly, the Sony Classical website seems to show it with a release date of today (??!!) The pic here shows the orig. cover, at least:

Juilliard String Quartet - Bartok: The 6 String Quartets | CD

Not sure that page is accurate...it doesn't look very professional.

[JSngry]

Sony Classical does have the 90s version in print, but....I ain't feeling that at all.

I went to that site also, and I'm willing to wager that if you go there tomorrow, the release day will be that day.

[T.D.]

22 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Sony Classical does have the 90s version in print, but....I ain't feeling that at all.

I went to that site also, and I'm willing to wager that if you go there tomorrow, the release day will be that day.

Fully agreed (italics added). It seems like that type of programming "feature".

 

But some detective work:

Discogs showed a release page for a 2010 CD-R reissue, with a link to ArkivMusic.

The ArkivMusic link was dead, but a search of ArkivMusic yields a 2-CD set for $29.99 (edit: "3 CD set")

I leave it to more intrepid searchers to determine whether those are in stock, CD-R or CD, etc.

Edited April 28 by T.D.

[JSngry]

Not sure about CDrs at that price?

[T.D.]

20 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Not sure about CDrs at that price?

Price seems high for CD-R, but IMO it could be something like Presto Music's "Presto CDs", which are pressed on demand and presumably CD-R. That would actually square with the Sony Classical page perpetually showing "today" as release date. OTOH, "Presto CDs" seem to be offered at all kinds of prices, see for instance .

Edited April 29 by T.D.

[JSngry]

On 4/28/2025 at 6:27 PM, T.D. said:

Discogs showed a release page for a 2010 CD-R reissue, with a link to ArkivMusic.

 

Found a US seller (reasonably priced) and carpe diemed. No mention of CD-Rs. Seller was rated 100%, so fingers crossed...

[T.D.]

I'm culling the Novak Quartet (Philips) recording which I dislike (on the Pay it Forward thread if anyone cares) and replacing it with an ultra-"Hungarian" version, Végh mono 1954.

I have the Végh 1970s Beethoven set (Valois) and am curious about earlier vintage recordings by them.

[jazzbo]

I have three sets of Vegh . . . and love them. That cellist is the bomb.

[JSngry]

Vegh, for sure. And not just for Bartok!

Takács Quarter is another great one 

[JSngry]

Check this out!

https://ionarts.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-survey-of-bartok-string-quartet-cycles.html?m=1

Could be useful! 

[T.D.]

Thanks. I'm familiar with the site from Google and the author's posts on a classical forum. He tries hard to be comprehensive, and does the same thing for lots of other classical cycles. I actually consulted the site for my Bartok SQ addition, and have also read his LvB piano sonata and SQ surveys.

[JSngry]

57 minutes ago, T.D. said:

Thanks. I'm familiar with the site from Google and the author's posts on a classical forum. He tries hard to be comprehensive, and does the same thing for lots of other classical cycles. I actually consulted the site for my Bartok SQ addition, and have also read his LvB piano sonata and SQ surveys.

Does he do the same type thing for historical recordings? Like what groups had recorded ANY of them before Juilliard did the first complete cycle in 1950?

Google does not yet seem to comprehend my question on the way I'm asking, but it did tell me that the first recording of ANY of them was done by the Amar-Hindemith Quartet, of #2, and ok, cool, this exists (and has been ordered). Now what else is there from these early days?

 

 

[T.D.]

Looks like he just does complete cycles. Earliest thereof for Bartok SQ is Juilliard 1 (1950) on Pearl. To my surprise.

Your inquiry is interesting, but I don't even know how to research it! Maybe it's closely tied in with the history of the classical recording industry.

Pretty wild that the first recording was 1925 or later, considering that SQ #1 was first performed in 1910!

[JSngry]

Yeah, the 1950 Juilliard was the first-ever recording of the full cycle. The Pearl release has now been superceded by the Sony Classical box of early JSQ records, but major props to them for keeping those records alive.

Pearl is a cool label. I really enjoy listening to real-time(ish) recordings of new music. People were still grappling with interpretations and sometimes the notes themselves 

Check this out:

 

[T.D.]

This arrived today and I'm happy with the acquisition.

Sound quality is excellent. I'm fine with mono for chamber music (or solo piano) if well-recorded.

Performance outstanding. I think Sándor Végh's playing here is better than in the 1970s Beethoven cycle I have, where his intonation occasionally sounds a little off.