Beethoven's String Quartets
Beethoven's String Quartets
Gramophone Choice
Late String Quartets – Opp 95, 127, 130, 131, 132 & 135. Grosse Fuge
Takács Quartet Decca 470 849-2DH3 (3h 40’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Interpreters of the late quartets have to convey what at times sounds like a stream of musical consciousness while respecting the many written markings. The Takács do better than most. For openers, they had access to the new Henle Edition and have made use of some textual changes – nothing too drastic but encouraging evidence of a good musical conscience. In Op 130 they take the long first-movement exposition repeat, using the Grosse Fuge as the rightful finale (Beethoven’s original intention) which, in the context of their fiery reading of the fugue, works well. Contemporary incredulity at the sheer scale and complexity of the fugue caused Beethoven to offer a simpler alternative finale, in which they again play the repeat, which helps balance the ‘alternative’ structure.
The Takács evidently appreciate this music both as musical argument and as sound. Try their glassy sul ponticello at the end of Op 131’s Scherzo, or the many instances where plucked and bowed passages are fastidiously balanced. Attenuated inflections are honoured virtually to the letter, textures carefully differentiated, musical pauses intuitively well-timed and inner voices nearly always transparent.
This set completes one of the best available Beethoven quartet cycles, possibly the finest in an already rich digital market.
Additional Recommendations
String Quartets, Op 59, ‘Rasumovsky’, Nos 1-3. String Quartet Op 74
Takács Quartet Decca 470 847-2DH2 (144‘ ·DDD) Buy from Amazon
The Takács Quartet do a fine job here: controlled, well paced and impeccably balanced. They manage to balance the music’s vertical and horizontal aspects –beautifully, long-breathed contrapuntal lines gliding serenely above a sharp, occasionally dramatic accompaniment – masterly playing indeed and typical of this first lap of the Takács’ Beethoven cycle.
The Takács hold both line and rhythm in Op 59 No 1 with imposing control. Their manner of badinage in the mischievously hocketing second movement is more intense than the rival account by The Lindsays (ASV), and their tempi consistently swifter. In Op 59 No 3 the Takács approximate the Busch (Pearl) in a broad, soulful Andante con moto. And in the fugal finale they’re almost on a par with the Emersons, whose demonic DG account is one of the most viscerally exciting quartet recordings around. The finale of Op 59 No 2 is a tautly braced canter whereas in the Scherzo of the Harp, Op 74, taken at a hair-raising lick, the Takács make obsessive music of the dominating four-note idea – and there’s absolutely no let up in tension for the cello-led Trio. Indeed, the Takács’ Harp is one of the finest ever recorded, with fiery reportage of the first movement’s central development and a delightfully playful account of the finale, the ‘tipsy’ first variation especially.
The jewel, then, is Op 59 No 2, though you’d be hard pressed to find a rival digital set of Opp 59 and 74 that’s better overall. Andrew Keener’s recording (St George’s, Bristol) reports a realistic ‘edge’ within a sympathetic acoustic.
String Quartets, Op 18
Tokyo Quartet Harmonia Mundi HMU90 7436/7 (146’ · DDD) Buy from Amazon
Enjoyable as other digital recordings of Beethoven’s first quartets are, this new Tokyo set just about pips all rivals to the post. The reason is primarily one of balance, not only within the group itself but also in terms of overall musical judgement – whether relating to tempi, dynamics or emphases, or simply the way the players combine a sense of classical style with an appreciation of Beethoven’s startling originality. Even as early as No 1’s pensive opening, you notice how skilfully rests are being gauged, contrasts in colour and inflection, too: the way the clipped first motif leads into its sweetly imploring extension a couple of bars later. The Scherzo’s skipping gait, incisive but lightly dispatched, is another source of pleasure, and so is the seemingly effortless swirl of the closing Allegro. The old quartet cliché about ‘leaning together’ is here a principal attribute. At times it could be just one person playing.
The qualifying ma non tanto of the C minor’s opening Allegro is pointedly observed: dramatic impact is sustained while composure is maintained. The crispness of the Andante scherzoso and the cannily calculated crescendos at the start of the finale is oustanding. Few ensembles have characterised the A major’s cantering first idea as happily as the Tokyos do here, while the ethereal and texturally variegated middle movements anticipate the very different world of Beethoven’s ‘late’ quartets. Beautifully blended recordings, too: if you’re after a top-ranking digital set of Op 18, you couldn’t do better.
