Todd
New member
I wasnt really in the market for another cycle of Shostakovichs string quartets, but whilst perusing the S section of the local CD hut, I stumbled upon the complete cycle played by the Beethoven Quartet in one niftily handy box from Doremi. The price was (and is) a bit steep at full price, but the mere snippets I had heard before while shopping at the same store I might add, though at a different time and in a different transfer convinced me that when a set was available I should buy. The set was available. I bought.
To say Im glad I did is a major understatement. Based on my listening experience, Id say that this is the finest overall cycle Ive heard. Now, Ive heard only 60% of the Borodins Melodiya cycle (and I intend to buy the recently reissued set soon), and then its been a few years since I heard that, but that minor caveat aside, this set is unlike other cycles. Immediacy and urgency and intensity are the primary interpretive elements here, and they reveal something new in the works, at least for me. Since the Beethoven Quartet reportedly premiered 13 of the 15 quartets, one might be able to say they had the inside track on what the music was all about. One presumes they worked closely with the composer. It shows.
The first notable trait is the immediacy of the music, by which I mean the ensemble plays it with an unencumbered vitality and freshness. This was new music, and the Beethovens were entrusted to bring it to life. Even in the earliest quartets, recorded years after the actual debuts, display this characteristic. Urgency, well, that comes with the newness and the nature of the music itself. Each bar, each note usually seems to be played with a sense of importance not always heard in more recent recordings. And the intensity is notable. Ive not yet heard a 3rd quartet of greater intensity. Thats because I generally dont think of the 3rd as an especially intense quartet compared to some of the others. Ditto the 4th, 7th, and even 13th and 14th. Its not that I ever thought of any of the works as soft at all, but just never this intense.
The entire cycle can be viewed as a series of highlights, though within the highlights Id also single out the 8th and 12th, in addition to the five previously mentioned, as especially worthy of mention. The 8th is supposed to be searing and intensely depressing and unyielding at times, but the Beethovens play it at a different level than most. The 12th is also quite remarkable, the second movement, in particular. Each instrument seems to twitch out the music in a modernist cacophony that almost literally assaults ones ears, yet one cannot, must not turn away or turn the volume down. Amazing stuff.
The set is not without flaws, of course. Sound quality is variable, for instance. Generally speaking, the sound improves as one advances through the works. The earliest recordings are transferred from LPs, I assume, and the folks at Doremi took the heavy duty filtering approach. The sound is clean and dry up to a certain frequency, then everything disappears. Fortunately, one still gets to hear all of the music. While things do improve, some individual quartets sound quite poor. The 5th at times sounds as though the dangerously enlarged viola is about to devour the other instruments. The 10th and 13th have a shrillness that I doubt can ever be removed. I wouldnt doubt if better transfers could be made, but somehow I dont think one could ever get something approaching SOTA sound, or even Fitzwilliam Quartet sound quality. Also, while the ensemble is undoubtedly accomplished, they cant compete with more modern ensembles (Emerson, Danel) for sheer technical perfection. There are some less than perfect notes and moments of less than fully pleasurable intonation, but they matter not at all. The flaws are irrelevant; the music and the performances come together nearly perfectly.
Perhaps unusually, even though I think this is the best overall cycle Ive heard, Im not sure Ill always turn to the Beethoven Quartet first. The rawness, the intensity make it challenging to listen to at times. Sometimes I would rather just listen for the notes, for the structure, for the development. At such times, the Danel remain my current ensemble of choice. But when I want to get to the heart of the matter, the Beethoven Quartet is the way to go.
Which is truly my purchase of the year now: Russell Shermans Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle or this release? Probably both. (And a few others.)