Search - Johannes Brahms, Végh Quartet :: String Quartets (Dig)

Adjust the treble and enjoy!

Charles S. Eisenberg | 10/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The previous reviewer is not wrong about the sound being rather shrieky- one would be well advised to turn down the treble on one's stereo to compensate for an imperfect sound engineering. I read the previous review before buying the CD, but bought it anyway. I did so because, although I had two recordings of the quartet already (by Quartetto Italiano and the original Cleveland quartet) I found these unsatisfactory: too sentimental and full of what I would call "added" emotionality, in a way that inhibited my hearing the piece in its full simplicity and heartfelt directness of feeling and meaning. (This is a deficiency that I feel is common in performances and recordings especially of the last 40 years.) I am a great fan of the Hungarian String Quartet, led by the great virtuouso Zoltan Szekely, Bartok's recital partner and dedicatee and first performer of his second Violin Concerto. Their recordings of Brahms' first two quartets were, until very recently, available from EMI, and I cherish these. Like all of this quartet's recordings, there is restraint, dignity, a gorgeous instrumental sound, great and penetrating intelligence, total instrumental mastery, unerring intonation, absolute faithfulness to the score, and terrific, though flexible rhythmic control and precision. There is, and was then, no available recording by this quartet of the third Brahms quartet. Sandor Vegh, however, was the founder and original first violinist of the Hungarian String Quartet before he moved on to found the Vegh Quartet, and he and his fellow members share the same musical outlook and training (as students and of Leo Weiner at the Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest) that informs the Hungarian String Quartet. I figured that there was a good chance that they would deliver a similarly satisfying performance. And they did. Although Sandor Vegh's violin sound is not so consistently and completely beautiful as is that of Zoltan Szekely, he was still an excellent violinist and a masterful musician. And the rest of the quartet play basically ideally. This is probably the best available recording of the piece, if far from the best engineered. But do lower the treble if you can."