Search - Beethoven, Lindsay String Quartet :: String Quartets 15 & 16

An amazing CD!

Anonymous | California USA | 12/22/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here are two of Beethoven's, and music's, greatest masterpieces. Beethoven's last quartet, the F major Op 135, is here given the most convincing performance I've ever heard (that includes the Busch quartet). Every tempo is exactly right: the first movement, faster than usual, has just the right charm and grace. The scherzo and trio are manic as they ought to be, and the slow movement is unbearably moving. In the finale, the Lindsay's capture the deaf and dying Beethoven's gruff humor to perfection.The A minor quartet, Op 132, is almost as good. The 4 outer movements are amazing, with an uncommon sense of urgency and structure. Only in the slow movement, the "Heiliger Dankgesang", do the Lindsays lose out slightly by failing to maintain a steady tempo and by some technical problems. For this reason, you may want an additional version of Op 132. But overall, this CD will bring you closer to Beethoven, and it will enrich your musical life."

Recording of mixed quality

jt52 | New Jersey | 07/04/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This recording has its pluses and minuses. I'll focus on the tremendous Op. 132 quartet, probably my personal favorite among LvB's chamber works.



Let's start with the positives: some of the passages are superb. The exciting coda of the 1st movement is performed passionately. I thought the trio of the scherzo (2nd mvt) was rendered very well, with the inventive accompaniment sounding accurate and, as a result, airy. The cheerful intro passage to the finale is also played with spirit.



Unfortunately, the Lindsays don't always perform with such passion. The slow chorale sections of the slow movement are played in an almost bored way. There are also more intonation problems with the violins than I would expect from such a technically polished ensemble - take the same slow movement's beautiful violin melody following the chorale, which is squeaky and off pitch. Let's just say that the level of emotional commitment varies, which is significant minus for a very passionate piece of music.



Finally, it's worth mentioning that the recording is mediocre. The soundstage is compressed and the four instruments don't stand out by themselves. At the same time, the string attack tends to be blurred sometimes and the overll sound doesn't have the "beauty" of a good recording - it's flattened out. I was wondering whether the mic was too far away, actually. I also wonder if this is an example of one of these "edited" modern recordings where the final product is assembled bit by bit by the editor rather than being a full performance edited here and there. (If you doubt me, I know for a fact that in recent years, recording editors have been assembling from brief samples of many studio takes to ensure "perfection." This recording reminds me of those sad efforts in a certain way.)



So this is a decent recording but has flaws."