Search - Beethoven, New Budapest String Quartet :: The Complete Beethoven String Quartets / The New Budapest SQ

A Beethoven bargain

Aaron Oh Shuwen | SA, Australia | 02/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The New Budapest Quartet was established in 1971. Concerning the added moniker 'New', it was necessary to distinguish this quartet from the Budapest Quartet. Judging by this recording (not to mention various critical accolades and awards), in my opinion (IMO) the New Budapest Quartet certainly lives up to their predecessor's legacy.There is no selfish virtuosity here; the quartet plays (and I daresay thinks) as one. All four players are obviously fully involved emotionally and intellectually in their music making. More so certainly that the Amadeus Quartet (on DGG) for these pieces. Intonation never errs into bad taste. The violins have the sweetest timbre I have come across in a long long time- scratchy-violin syndrome (epitomized by DGG's Beethoven, Mozart: Violin Concertos / Schneiderhan, Jochum) is thankfully absent here! Rubato, while present, is never overused. Elegant music making, yet not as blatantly modern and cosmopolitan as, say the Emerson Quartet. A relatively clean (compared to, say, the Italian Quartet's sometimes IMO over-the-top interpretations) interpretation that hovers somewhere between Classical and Romantic playing. IMO, it has the best of both worlds; it avoids the heavy syrupy playing of overly Romantic interpretations while managing to not sound cool, nor detached, as Classical interpretations are wont to do.It is said after all that Beethoven himself had one foot in the intellectual sobriety of the Classical period and the other in the Romantic period. In that sense, the New Budapest Quartet succeed completely in channeling Beethoven's music.The recorded sound quality is impeccable. Warm, full, satisfying. The instruments have excellent stereo imaging, and are recorded in a suitably intimate (read: chamber-like) atmosphere - no unnatural cavernous reverberation is present. No instrument fades into inaudibility at any time when it is playing. The violin pizacatos are the best I have ever heard on record - each delicate yet vibrant sounding. In short: typical first class Hyperion sound. For those using in-ear type earphones (like me), hiss is almost non-existent (this is a DDD recording).Finally, the packaging cannot be bettered - 8 discs packaged separately in 8 individual >plastic< jewel cases, all in a large paper sleeve. No cheapo cardboard slipcases to scratch your discs here! Full liner notes are included with every case, and comprise mainly of (very) generous analyses on each and every movement of every quartet. To sum up, after listening to this set, I cannot imagine any other way the quartets should be played - surely a hallmark of a great recording."

Great Performance of the Early and Middle Quartets

Ramon Kranzkuper | Gainesville, FL | 03/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The New Budapest Quartet certainly have an attitude, which unfortunately is not good when it comes to the late quartets. That's not to say that it's a bad performance, but there's too much of the Budapest's personality in the late quartets - these, in my humble opinion, need more sensitivity.The early quartets are delightful here, but what makes this set worth owning is the Razumovskys: Perfect is the only word that can describe this rendition. There's solemnity when it's required, panache when permissible, vigour when it's warranted - in short, "just as the Master intended". The first and last movements of op. 59 #2 of this performance moves one to tears. There's a fiery intensity in all these performances that makes this a definite buy. However, try another version of the late quartets, is my advice - perhaps the Vermeer, or the Lindsays."