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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional Performances, Unexceptional recordings, Nov 10 2003
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
There are obviously many recordings of Beethoven's string quartets. This is my favorite performance of them, and the depth of feeling is unparalleled. In particular, Op. 131 is perhaps the most beautiful music ever written. The performance of the allegro molto vivace movement is lithe and delightfully playful while the adagio quasi un poco andante movement is impossibly slow and as somber as a funeral. It must be the rarest performance to have so mastered such breadth of style and emotive content. On this basis, the best performance of Beethoven's string quartet warrants the five stars, but be forewarned that the recording is of only passable quality. Though made in the 1970s, one might well guess its vintage as a decade earlier.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb, Jun 17 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
I have been listening to this set of the Beethoven quartets since the mid-70's. I never tire of these performances. I have over the years purchased other performances of the Beethoven quartets by the Emerson, Berg, Borodin, and Takacs but the QI's version is the one to which I return. There are no other performances that match the QI's for balance and crispness, detail and passion, And I have always admired Franco Rossi, the cellist, for his wonderful singing tone -- especially in the Op. 59 F maj. I can only agree with the other reviewers praise of the late quartets especially the Op. 132.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
absolutely top-of-the-line, Mar 13 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Beethoven: Complete String Quartets (Audio CD)
With no exception, every performance in this set is outstanding. I was especially taken by their performance of the op. 130 quartet, and the Grosse Fuge. Their dynamics, synchronicity, tone, phrasing, everything, is 99.9% perfect. I definitely recommend this, and it will not disappoint.
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