ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (08/30/85)
I'm thinking of buying a CD recording of the Beethoven quartets. Right now there are two available: the Smetana Quartet [Denon, almost complete but missing (probably) one disc] and the Berg Quartet [Angel, complete but possibly reissues of old recordings] Has anyone out there listened to these recordings? Comments? Is there some other recording in progress worth waiting for? (I'd really like to hear the Guarneri Quartet have a go at it)
knf@druxo.UUCP (FricklasK) (08/31/85)
->I'm thinking of buying a CD recording of the Beethoven quartets. ->Right now there are two available: the Smetana Quartet [Denon, ->almost complete but missing (probably) one disc] and the Berg ->Quartet [Angel, complete but possibly reissues of old recordings] -> ->Has anyone out there listened to these recordings? Comments? ->Is there some other recording in progress worth waiting for? ->(I'd really like to hear the Guarneri Quartet have a go at it) I have the Angel recording and is is excellent, good mastering, etc. '`'` Ken '`'`
mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (09/01/85)
A couple of months ago I heard an interview with the Orford Quartet,
who are about to do a complete CD set of the Beethoven Quartets. THAT
should be worth listening to!
What was interesting was the discussion on how very different it was
to record for CD than for LP (They have an LP set from some years ago).
I don't remember too many details, but the impression was that the
performance result should be much better (partly because of their
particular producer, partly because of the recording requirements
for CD).
--
Martin Taylor
{allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt
{uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmtjho@ihu1m.UUCP (Yosi Hoshen) (09/01/85)
> I'm thinking of buying a CD recording of the Beethoven quartets. > Right now there are two available: the Smetana Quartet [Denon, > almost complete but missing (probably) one disc] and the Berg > Quartet [Angel, complete but possibly reissues of old recordings] > > Has anyone out there listened to these recordings? Comments? > Is there some other recording in progress worth waiting for? > (I'd really like to hear the Guarneri Quartet have a go at it) I have all the Smetana recordings of the Beethoven Quartets. All the quartets are available on CD except #16. Most recently #14 Op 131 came out. I know that all the quartets have been recorded by the Smetana (Josef Suk who collaborates with the Smetana Quartet has told me that the Smetana Quartet and the Suk Trio have Completed the recording of Beethoven's Quartets and Trios for Denon). The Smetana Quartet recording of Beethoven's Quartets and Mozart's Quintet (Josef Suk) are my most favorite recordings. The performance as well as the quality of the recorded sound are unmatched by any other chamber music recording. Denon seems to be the only company who is really committed to chamber music recording on CD. I have tried DGG for the Death and the Maiden quartet (Schubert) with the Amadeus Quartet. I was disappointed by both the performance and the sound. I intend to buy the Smetana recording of this piece as soon as it will be out. I have the Berg Quartet recording of Schuberts String Quintet. The performance is good but the CD tends to be harsh for the first violin. Besides the Berg and the Smetana Quartets recordings of Beethoven's quartets, I think there is another complete recording of these quartets on CBS Sony (Julliard Quartet?). However, some of these recordings have not received favorable review. -- Yosi Hoshen, AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, Illinois, Mail: ihnp4!ihu1m!jho
rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (09/04/85)
[] I have 3 CDs of the Smetana quartets. I'm no judge. They sound prety good to me .. except for one thing ... The first movement of Number nine: One microphone was misplaced too close to the schnozola of one of the players who forgot to take his allergy pill. The result is the sound is screwed up with randomly placed labored breaths. Now, if there had been real "committment" they could have redone the movement. Did they? Nope. They moved the mike and/or gave the player a pill. Cheaper that way. On CD's you can hear <everything> - darn it. -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg
doug@prime.UUCP (Douglas Hamilton) (09/06/85)
> ->I'm thinking of buying a CD recording of the Beethoven quartets. > ->Right now there are two available: the Smetana Quartet [Denon, > ->almost complete but missing (probably) one disc] and the Berg > ->Quartet [Angel, complete but possibly reissues of old recordings] > -> > ->Has anyone out there listened to these recordings? Comments? I have the Smetana recording and find it to be very enjoyable. For that matter, I have been extremely pleased with *ALL* the Smetana recordings on Denon, especially the Haydn & Mozart Quintets with Josef Suk. The performances are (to my ears) consistently beautiful - the instruments seem to really "sing." The Denon recordings are consistently top quality - very quiet and very "live." Close your eyes and you feel you could reach out and touch the individual instruments. Can't comment on the Berg recording per se, but will note that (again, to my ears) the Angel recordings (and I have many of them also) never seem to be nearly as good as Denon's. -- Douglas Hamilton Prime Computer,Inc. 617-626-1700 x3956 Video Products Group 492 Old Connecticut Path Framingham, MA 10701 {seismo,ihnp4,allegra,ut-sally}!harvard!prime!doug
rwfi@ur-tut.UUCP (Robert Fink) (09/25/85)
Have heard Smetana Qt's version of Beethoven Op 130 (with the Grosse Fuge) and like it very much; on the other hand, perhaps you should just hold out for the Quartetto Italiano!