Neue Wiener Schule: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern Streichquartette

Neue Wiener Schule: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern Streichquartette | Jack Kirstein, Arnold Schoenberg, ... | An essential collection

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	Neue Wiener Schule: Schoenberg, Berg, Webern Streichquartette Jack Kirstein, Arnold Schoenberg, ... Universal Int'l, 2005 average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Best chamber music ever from the so-called "atonal" school!

Arnold Schoenberg complained towards the end of his life that he had been forever saddled with the label of the man who had invented the so-called twelve-tone system of composition. He emphasized he was a composer first and foremost and the methods he employed were irrelevant to the discussion, and he was right. Tonal or atonal or twelve-tone, his music, together with that of his students and colleagues Alban Berg and Anton von Webern, was that of profound beauty and brilliance and wonder. The LaSalle Quartet brings to life almost a dozen works here: the four numbered Quartets by Schoenberg as well as an early work in that form he had written; Berg's early Quartet Op. 3 and the Lyric Suite; Webern's Five Pieces and Six Bagatelles for Quartet and the Quartet Op. 28 plus an early Slow Movement for Quartet, almost a one-movement Quartet in itself. The performances are unsurpassed and absolutely nobody who enjoys music from the 20th Century should be without this in their collection of chamber music. I first heard this while it was available on LP 28 years ago. It was stunning then and it is stunning now.

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An essential collection

This collection of music for string quartet by the Second Viennese School can now be said to have classical status. The LaSalle Quartet succeed fully in communicating the emotional, spiritual and intellectual depths the three composers of this school -Schönberg, Berg and Webern - commanded. Above all, these composers were through and through Viennese and these recordings show just how much their music grew out a continuum with the tradition handed down to them from Schubert, Beethoven, and Brahms.

First of all take the Second String Quartet by Schönberg with its fusion of the Quartet with the Lied. I have heard several versions of this, but none more beautiful than that sung by Margaret Price here. The otherworldly introspection and subtly visionary qualities of the music come across abundently. Yet at every moment the sense of the inheritance of the Viennese tradition remains omnipresent in the writing. Adorno thought this was the greatest thing Schönberg ever wrote and more than any other interpretion this one shows why Adorno might have thought that. It is a work of transcendent beauty that will appeal to lot of listeners, especially those who normally find Second Viennese School 'too difficult'. To have this along with the entire set of four quartets plus works by Berg and Webern is truly an embarrassment of riches!

The Webern pieces here are characterised by the Angst ridden darkness of their mood as well as their poignant brevity. These works were composed at a time when nearly every work was a response to the death of his mother - an event of enormous emotional impact for Webern. In this sense, the autobiographical elements recall the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, of whose music Webern was a powerful interpreter. Indeed, Berg even called him the greatest Mahler conductor since Mahler.

The thing that really makes this recording an essential set for every serious music lover's collection is the very substantial booklet that comes with this set. It is virtually a book rather than a booklet and is highly authoratative. I can only praise Deutsche Gramophon for maintaining their availability.

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ABSOLUTELY THE BEST REALIZATIONS OF THE SECOND VIENNESE!!

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Recently reissued: Schoenberg; Berg; Webern - String Quartets
One of the finest sets of realizations of the Second Viennese School's essays in that most important of art-music genres, the string quartet. The LaSalle SQ's razor-sharp, crystal-clear interpretations of these exquisite oeuvre have not been surpassed.
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Highly recommended!

Reissued by Brilliant Classics at an attractive price

This set of legendary performances by LaSalle Quartet of all string quartets by Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg has been reissued by Brilliant Classics Schoenberg; Berg; Webern - String Quartets at a very attractive price. Buy it now before it disappears again.

The performance here is outstanding, with well judged tempos and very tight ensemble. The sound is very polished, which is well captured in the CD transfer. There are only a few things I'd like to point out.

1. The first violin seems to have wider vibrato than commonly used these days.
2. The breathing is sometimes audible.
3. The soprano Margaret Price, with very wide vibrato, does not seem to have the right timber for Schoenberg's quartet in f sharp minor Op.10. (Yes, there is a soprano in the "string quartet"!)
4. If you have Alban Berg Collection, you already have 1 of the 4 discs.

However, these small quibbles need not deter you from buying this outstanding set at the current Brilliant Classics price. And by the way, if you like historic performances, the set In Honor of Rudolf Kolisch, which has almost all pieces performed here, is not to be missed. Kolisch Quartet premiered many of the pieces in the set, including Schoenberg's last 2 quartets, Webern's Op.28, Berg's Lyric Suite (and Bartok's 5th).

Most highly recommended.

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Schoenberg, Berg, Webern Quartets

Expensive this, but special, not least because of the wonderful singing of Margaret Price in Schoenberg Quartet 2. Not quite as 'complete' as the box claims, but an echo of the past when boxed sets often came with very detailed notes, as here.

reviews: page 1, 2

Tracks
String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7: 1. Nicht zu rasch | String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7: 2. Kräftig | String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7: 3. Mäßig | String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7: 4. Mäßig - heiter | String Quartet No. 2 for soprano & string quartet in F sharp minor, Op. 10: 1. Mäßig (Moderato) | String Quartet No. 2 for soprano & string quartet in F sharp minor, Op. 10: 2. Sehr rasch | String Quartet No. 2 for soprano & string quartet in F sharp minor, Op. 10: 3. Litanei. Langsam | String Quartet No. 2 for soprano & string quartet in F sharp minor, Op. 10: 4. Entrückung. Sehr langsam | String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: 1. Moderato | String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: 2. Adagio | String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: 3. Intermezzo. Allegro moderato | String Quartet No. 3, Op. 30: 4. Rondo. Molto moderato | String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: 1. Allegro molto; Energico | String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: 2. Comodo | String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: 3. Largo | String Quartet No. 4, Op. 37: 4. Allegro | String Quartet in D major: 1. Allegro molto | String Quartet in D major: 2. Intermezzo. Andantino grazioso | String Quartet in D major: 3. Andante con moto | String Quartet in D major: 4. Allegro | Movements (5) for string quartet, Op. 5: 1. Heftig bewegt | Movements (5) for string quartet, Op. 5: 2. Sehr langsam | Movements (5) for string quartet, Op. 5: 3. Sehr bewegt | Movements (5) for string quartet, Op. 5: 4. Sehr langsam | Movements (5) for string quartet, Op. 5: 5. In zarter Bewegung | String Quartet (1905) | Bagatelles (6) for string quartet, Op. 9: 1. Mäßig | Bagatelles (6) for string quartet, Op. 9: 2. Leicht bewegt | Bagatelles (6) for string quartet, Op. 9: 3. Ziemlich fließend | Bagatelles (6) for string quartet, Op. 9: 4. Sehr langsam | Bagatelles (6) for string quartet, Op. 9: 5. Äußerst langsam | Bagatelles (6) for string quartet, Op. 9: 6. Fließend | String Quartet, Op. 28: 1. Mäßig | String Quartet, Op. 28: 2. Gemächlich | String Quartet, Op. 28: 3. Sehr fließend | Lyric Suite, for string quartet: 1. Allegretto gioviale | Lyric Suite, for string quartet: 2. Andante amoroso | Lyric Suite, for string quartet: 3. Allegro misterioso - Trio estatico | Lyric Suite, for string quartet: 4. Adagio appassionato | Lyric Suite, for string quartet: 5. Presto delirando - Tenebroso | Lyric Suite, for string quartet: 6. Largo desolato | String Quartet, Op. 3: 1. Langsam | String Quartet, Op. 3: 2. Mäßige Viertel

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