Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Amadeus Quartet :: Beethoven: The String Quartets

Beethoven with spirit

03/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Beethoven's String Quartets always seem to puzzle yet fascinate me. I guess that's because his own musical maturity can be seen so starkly through each of his quartets, as they can all be grouped so easily into his early (Op. 18), middle (Opp. 59, 74, 95), and late period styles (Opp. 127, 130-133, 135).Frankly, I think the Amadeus Quartet perfectly captures the pure essence of Beethoven's musical genius and emotional spirit in these recordings. As can be expected, the late quartets stand out prominently among the rest, and I find the Amadeus interpretations of these late quartets almost tear-jerking at some points, e.g. the slow movements of Op. 130 and 132; the slow movement of the Op. 132 quartet has to be the saddest, loneliest music I've ever heard. The Razumovsky Quartets show a particularly energetic life of their own (although Amadeus could have picked up the pace a little bit with the first Razumovsky), and the Op. 18 Quartets are quite charming. I must say, I have to give kudos to Amadeus for pulling off the Grosse Fuge as good as it did. From seeing the Grosse Fuge performed live already, to say that it is difficult to play would probably be a masterpiece of understatement.But overall, these recordings are well worth it; you won't be disappointed."

Lyricism at its very best

V. Arni | New Delhi, India | 05/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many years ago I listened to the LPs of the Late Quartets by the Amadeus Quartet and was enthralled by their lyricism and awesome technical dexterity. I have since brought recordings of a later period - the Late Quartets of the Juillard Quartet -CDs - which was a recording especially made for the Library of Congress ca. 1993. And recently, after a long search on the web, but ending with Amazon.com, I bought the 7-CD DG Collectors Set of the Amadeus Quartet. What a marvel of reproduction and beauty of sound. The Juilliard set is, as remarked by other reviwers, too technical and too abstruse, devoid of those glorius melodic strains that reach deep into the mind and heart at the same time. Besides, learning the story of how the Amadeus Group was formed, added to the enjoyment of the music. Highly Recommnded.

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Better than Quartetto Italiano

V. Arni | 09/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I carefully compared the Amadeus set with the Quartetto Italiano ones, which i acquired years ago and always treasure as one of my best music collections.

Go to Amadeus! Italiano was kindly entertaining listeners with beautiful sound and rich mood while the structural dynamics and nerve of the music istself were buried.

Italiano's interpretation is colorful but less profound and penetrating. Amadeus gets it!"