Takács Quartet
Takács Quartet (photo: Patrick Ryan)
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Founded by four students at the Budapest Academy of Music, the Takács Quartet (with various changes of personnel: two original players remain) are widely held to be one of the world’s great quartets. They’ve recorded the complete Beethoven and Bartók quartets for Decca (both winning a Gramophone Award) and now record for Hyperion. They teach at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Takács Quartet: a tribute by Ross Snyder
'The Tesla Quartet was in its infancy when we were offered a place on the Takács’s graduate quartet programme at the University of Colorado, and we are grateful to have had them as mentors during those formative years. For them, perfection is not the goal, but rather the ability to convey fully the emotional content of the music. I can’t recall a coaching session in which we haven’t been asked, ‘So, what is the character here?’. The importance they place on getting inside the music comes across clearly in performance, and the notes on the page are merely the words they use to express more profound ideas. What sustains their artistic vision is sincerity, generosity of spirit, humour and compassion. These provide a healthy foundation for a sustainable professional career.'
Gramophone Article
Takács Quartet – Interview (Gramophone, July 1996) by Nick Kimberley
Recommended Recordings
Bartók - String Quartets Nos 1-6
