Track Listing

1. Qt No.16 in F, Op.135: I. Allegretto
2. Qt No.16 in F, Op.135: II. Vivace
3. Qt No.16 in F, Op.135: III. Lento Assai, Cantante E Tranquillo
4. Qt No.16 in F, Op.135: IV. Der Schwer Gefasste Entschluss: Grave, Ma Non Troppo Tratto-Allegro
5. Qt No.15 in a, Op.132: I. Assai Sostenuto
6. Qt No.15 in a, Op.132: II. Allegro Ma Non Tanto
7. Qt No.15 in a, Op.132: III. Heiliger Dankgesang Eines Genesenden An Die Gottheit...
8. Qt No.15 in a, Op.132: IV. Alla Marcia, Assai Vivace
9. Qt No.15 in a, Op.132: V. Allegro Appassionato
10. Qt No.14 in c#, Op.131: I. Adagio Ma Non Troppo E Molto Espressivo
11. Qt No.14 in c#, Op.131: II. Allegro Molto Vivace
12. Qt No.14 in c#, Op.131: III. Allegro Moderato
13. Qt No.14 in c#, Op.131: IV. Andante Ma Non Troppo E Molto Cantabile-Piu Mosso-Andante Moderato..
14. Qt No.14 in c#, Op.131: V. Presto
15. Qt No.14 in c#, Op.131: VI. Adagio Quasi Un Poco Andante
16. Qt No.14 in c#, Op.131: VII. Allegro
17. Qt No.12 in E flat, Op.127: I. Maestoso-Allegro
18. Qt No.12 in E flat, Op.127: II. Adagio Ma Non E Troppo E Molto Cantabile-Andante Con Moto-Adagio...
19. Qt No.12 in E flat, Op.127: III. Scherzando Vivace-Presto
20. Qt No.12 in E flat, Op.127: IV. Finale
21. Qt No.13 in B flat, Op.130: I. Adagio, Ma Non Troppo-Allegro
22. Qt No.13 in B flat, Op.130: II. Presto-L'istesso Tempo
23. Qt No.13 in B flat, Op.130: III. Andante Con Moto, Ma Non Troppo
24. Qt No.13 in B flat, Op.130: IV. Alla Danza Tedesca. Allegro Assai
25. Qt No.13 in B flat, Op.130: V. Cavatina. Adagio Molto Expressivo
26. Qt No.13 in B flat, Op.130: VI. Finale. Allegro
27. Grosse Fuge, Op. 133: Overtura. Allegro-Fuga

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #97664 in Music
• Released on: 1997-02-18
• Number of discs: 3

Album Description
These recordings, which until now lay virtually hidden in the archives of the Library of Congress, span nearly the entire length of the Budapest's residency at the Library. This remarkable set showcases performances of youthful ardor from the early 40s, as well as those deep and mature reflective performances which project the visceral excitement of the Budapest's onstage persona. The Budapest's exceptionally warm sound in these performances displays the quality of the famous Stradivarius instruments that the quartet played on at their Library concerts. The Budapest Beethoven cycles is being sold at a special price- three discs for the price of two. Bridge Records has taken great care in the restoration of these rarities- concerts that only a lucky few were privileged to hear at the original sold out performances, when the audiences regularly lined up around the block for tickets. Bridge has documented the set with extensive annotation by Harris Goldsmith.

Amazon.com
This three-CD set presents live performances from the Library of Congress by the most famous chamber ensemble of them all. Dates range from 1941 to 1960, capturing the Budapest in its prime. Compared with their more sedate, though still hugely impressive studio recordings, the group plays here with greater abandon and risk-taking. It pays off handsomely in more nuanced phrasing, greater intensity, especially in slow movements, and some recklessly fast speeds that add to the thrills. As expected, the 1960 performances are better-sounding sonically, though not completely without intonation problems; the earlier performances are almost flawless, but in boxy, dated sound. These interpretations still stand high among the best available, presenting a highly dramatic, thrustful Beethoven with the added excitement only live concert performances can give. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Intense Beethoven -- Not for the faint of heart!
If you think classical music--or at least string quartet literature--is mostly grace and refinement, get this set and be prepared to be blown away. These are searing-hot performances of Beethoven's last quartets, some say the greatest music he or even _anyone_ ever wrote (I wouldn't argue). The recordings are from live performances for the Library of Congress from 1941 to 1960. The sound is what you'd expect from that period, or maybe even a bit better, given how well these discs have been preserved. The audience is quiet (though very appreciative). But the expressivity of the playing is so intense that it cuts through any concerns for mere sonics. This is Beethoven with no middle-man. The Budapests are so naturalistic and musical that they disappear into the works...more recent performances by the Italiano, Emerson and Tokyo Quartets sound mannered and calculated by comparison. The Grosse Fugue and Op. 130 particularly stand out. There are some drawbacks to the hell-bent-for-leather approach. Sometimes they lose sight of the long line, but this is something you don't really hear until you've lived with these pieces for decades, and I mean decades. Sometimes they are too driven--rhythm at the expense of shape and shading. Sometimes there are ambiguities and subtlties that these musicians run over. But every approach to these works has some drawback--no one can milk all the music. The liner notes talk about how blown away they were with Toscanin's conducting approach--the clarity of textures and the impetuousness--and it shows in some of their interpretations--sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. There are times whem I don't agree with what they're doing (Op. 131), but find that *they* are so convinced of it that I just don't care!

Nice booklet with historic photos and an interesting essay on what brought this group of musicians to the Library of Congress. Of course, the listener should not stop with these recordings. The Budapests' own studio discs (on Sony), the Vegh, Yale, Busch, Fine Arts, Amadeus and Lindsay Quartet recordings are also mandatory listening: this music is too rich for any one performance to make sense of everything. But this set is highly recommended for any serious chamber music library.

Performances that will live forever
The greatest quartets ever written by the greatest quartet that ever played. I have been listening to these works for fifty years, and heard the Budapest Quartet play them live when I was a lot younger. I have many recordings them, including the early fifties mono sets (Jac Gorodetzky second violin) and the early sixties stereo sets (Alexander Schneider second violin), of all the quartets on Columbia LP alas, neither transferred complete to CD although parts of each have been, and several recordings by other quartets, older, the Busch Quartet, also essential, and newer, of which there are many fine ones, the Quartetto Italiano and the Talich in particular. But nothing, nothing compares with these. They are as I remember them from so many years ago. There are no words to express how beautiful, how intense, these performances are: the first movement of op. 131, the Heiliger Dankgesang of op. 132 (Edgar Ortenberg second violin), the Cavatina of op. 130, and a Grosse Fuge, op. 133, with energy beyond all others. As one of the other reviewers recommends, get the Dover score, and then spend the rest of your life listening. How is the sound? Just fine except for occasional distortion in some louder passages, but that is no matter. These are without doubt among the greatest recordings ever made. Let us hope that more Library of Congress recordings are made available and that some day all the Columbia recordings are reissued, including the earlier 78's, some of which have made it to CD.

The Library Recordings vs The Studio Recordings
As much as I love the Budapesters I couldn't get past the quality of the library recordings. You cannot hear the instruments articulate very well in some parts. I don't know if this is because the library has poor acoustics or the microphones where placed incorrectly. You loose some notes and even whole phrases at times in a blurr. The studio recordings are far superior in sound quality. If you already have these quartets in a modern recording and just want to add the superiority of the Budapesters then I would recommend this set so long as you know that there are sound limitations. If this is your first buy of these quartets I recommend buying the scattered and incomplete Sony Essential Classics recordings of the Budapesters playing these pieces. I know the CD generation will not like the library recordings, but if you are used to listening to music with a grain of salt for the quality of the recording then you can enjoy the library recordings.