Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets / Alban Berg Quartet

Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets / Alban Berg Quartet | Ludwig van Beethoven, Alban Berg Quartet, ... | The Late SQs are in a Class of their Own......

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Beethoven - The Co...

	Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets / Alban Berg Quartet Ludwig van Beethoven, Alban Berg Quartet, ... EMI Classics, 1999 average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

VERY HIGH QUALITY RENDITION

All the performances on this set of the Beethoven String Quartets are of the highest quality. Particularly outstanding is the performance of Op 59 no 1
Intonation, expression, the ability of the players to meld together, and the dynamic range is all superb.
One small flaw (nothing to do with the playing)
In the very last track, the final movement of the B flat quartet (not the great fuge, but the movement Beethoven replaced it with), there is a continual flapping sound - I don't know where it came from, but it is very irritating, and I'm surprised that EMI let it through.

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The Late SQs are in a Class of their Own......

Well let me tell you, Beethoven was a ground breaking composer in just about every category he composed in and his SQs are NO Exception. B just amazes me with his twists and turns in his SQ compositions. B was a moody individual and his SQs reflect his personality. Everything here is exceptional. He pushes the limits and then pulls back the reigns and provides you with a heart wrenching slow mvt which melts you. There is something for everyone here, he includes the full range of emotions.

From what I read about B, he tirelessly researched his predecessors and found a new and inventive prospective which they had not conceived. For instance, the Mid-SQs, Op. 59, 74, 95 move in an uncharted direction, which no other composer was following at the time. The result, was invention and they never lose their listener appeal.

As for his late SQs, he seems to reach to the future and beyond. Think of all of those modern musicians who reached to the future or were or are ahead of their time. Well, B did that two centuries ahead of them. The late SQs are celebral leaps and served as models to many after him.

As for the performance, this is Best!! ABQ have made B's SQs their own!!!

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Great Sound and early quartets

The Berg Beethoven is big and juicy and this suits the early quartets. Their sound and the recorded sound are certainly the best you will hear. The later quartets miss the introspection of some of the other great string quartets.
A great bargain and tops in sound!!!

They play very well

They play well, a very clean interpretation. I think they may be a starting point to Beethoven Quartets.It is possible to hear every instrument at all times and it is fine to know each part. But I like several other quartets in Beethoven.

Good but not great

I guess I'm just used to Haydn and Mozart, because these string quartets were just too dissonant and untraditional for me - one who loves the Beethoven symphonies. To each his own, as they say. The recording itself is terrific - great engineering.

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