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| Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets / Alban Berg Quartet | 
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| Artists: Ludwig Van Beethoven, Alban Berg Quartet, Gerhard Schulz, Hatto Beyerle, Thomas Kakuska, Valentin Erben Guenther Pichler
Label: EMI Classics
Category: Music
List Price: $46.98
Buy New: $25.95
You Save: $21.03 (45%)
Buy New/Used from $21.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  (30 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2833
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 7
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5.1 x 0.9
MPN: 73606
UPC: 724357360623
EAN: 0724357360623
ASIN: B000026D4J
Release Date: November 16, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 26-30 of 30 | | « PREV | | |
 Incisive playing December 25, 2003
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
I bought this set with great expectations and the Alban Bergs held up to thos gerat expectation. The tone is flawless, the music infused with feeling, the phrasing superb, the ensemble perfect. This is a superb cycle from one of the greatest string quartets of the world.
 To counter an earlier opinion. July 14, 2003
10 out of 51 found this review helpful
I don't have too much to say about the Alban Berg playing Beethoven. I don't have this set of studio recordings, but I do have the 8-CD set in which the ABQ was recorded live. The live performance adds a bit of zest to the playing, but the ABQ is the ABQ, high-powered, beautiful, but a soul is missing.Anyway, what I like to counter is what an earlier reviewer says about the Orford and the Guarneri! I respectfully disagree with the earlier opinion. I thought the Orford was bad, simply B.A.D: when others are fast, the Orford is slow, and when it's normally slow, the Orford goes 'allegro'. They have a beautiful tone, and play with good ensemble. But I got the feeling that they also like to indulge themselves, costing Beethoven's music. I heard the Guarneri quartet in concert about 5 to 6 times, playing the Beethoven quartet cycle. They were young then and those concerts were wonderful, simply gorgeous playing. I thought at that time they were on their way to becomming a super quartet, like the Budapest and the Italiano. Then more than ten years later, I bought the Guarneri's Beethoven CD's. The playing was like there was no relation to the 4 musicians I heard live on stage. What happened? On disks, the Guarneri didn't seem to care at all! What a shame.
 Beethoven:Complete String Quartets/Alban Berg Quartett April 23, 2001
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
The ABQ have put together a wonderful overview of the Beethoven quartets. Their playing is beautifully refined, always together, with a wonderful rich glossy sound. My only reservation is that they sometimes lose sight of the full extent of the tragedy and pain in the music, such is their concern for beauty. A great recording, but if you are looking for a deeper reading, try Quartetto Italiano.
Beethoven Quartet Sets January 17, 2000
35 out of 54 found this review helpful
Let's be real. The Berg Quartet's rendition of the Viennese repertoire can be most charitably described as clinical, if not sterile. Their Beethoven 4ets are functional, accurate, technically (sometimes) brilliant, but devoid of any coherent emotional architecture. (Their Schubert, by contrast, is simply brutal.) Il Quartetto Italiano's multiple complete sets give a romanticized rendition perhaps more "espressivo" than even Mr.van B. himself could indulge. More "updated" combination of technical showcase and heartfelt expression? Try the Orford set (Delos) or the Guarneri (Philips); The Kodaly Quartet (Naxos) delivers a VERY inventive reading growing out of the old but incredibly rich and utilitarian Hungarian conservatory aesthetic which has a lot to say to contemporary tastes. What's YOUR opinion?
An excellent performance December 2, 1999
38 out of 61 found this review helpful
In my opinion this is actually one of the best performance of Beethoven's String Quartets. The performance of these String Quartets by Alban Berg Quartett (ABQ) was praised by the Contemporary Composer Witold Lutoslawski. ABQ is an emsemble that ranges performances from Classic to the most Contemporary Composers. Not by coincidence they are named Alban Berg, one of the initiators of twelve tone music. Perhaps, this sensibility in performing contemporary music gives ABQ the excellent expression of the minimum details in these beautiful and also, sometimes, misterious works of Beethoven. If anyone wants to compare ABQ performance of this Quartets with others more contemporaries, I would suggest to listen the String Quartet by W. Lutoslawski performed by ABQ (this was performed live), and end up to the conclusion that ABQ is one of the most excellent ensemble and also to be agree that contemporary performances help to enhance classical and romantic sensibility
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