Tír Na HiFi

fergus wrote:

ravel30 wrote:String quartets are generally not among my favorite genre but once in a while I enjoy it a lot. Both 'Death and the Maiden' and 'Quartettsatz' are beautiful pieces. It is a shame that the 'Quartettsatz' in unfinished because I think that it is a pretty amazing piece.

Matt.

You are quite correct to say that it is wonderful music. One of my Concert/Recital highlights of 2011 was hearing a performance of Death and the Maiden by Ireland's premier string quartet....it was quite a powerful performance. I hope that you enjoy your recital on Monday as much as I did mine!

I, too, was at that concert and the Irish Vanbrugh String Quartet were magnificent, it was a wonderful concert, they played it at a brisk tempo and managed to maintain the beauty of the music throughout.

Death and the Maiden is my favourite music for string quartet and I feel that, when performed well, the Andante is one of the most moving pieces of music ever written, to my ear a performance can thrive or fail on the Andante.

I have six versions of Schubert's 14th:
Amadeus Quartet (late 50's)
Brandis Quartet (1995);
Smetana Quartet (radio broadcast from 1982)
Takács Quartet (2006)
Kodály Quartet (1991)

and this magnificent series of recordings by the Quartetto Italiano (1965) on the Decca label:



This performance of Death and the Maiden is better than any other recording I've heard, to my mind it is perfect, I am aware that is an extraordinary assertion. I was stunned by it when I listened to it for the first time and it never fails to impress me. It is my benchmark recording in this music and the competitors have all been found wanting. The sound reproduction is very good too.

J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.3 & No.4 (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Virgin Veritas)



A nice set of performances. I enjoyed the rambunctious horns in No.1, but No.3 is the pick of the bunch so far I think.

This is charming, delightful music.

Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.1 (Yo-Yo Ma/Eugene Ormandy, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Sony Classical)

Bax - Symphony No.6 (David Lloyd-Jones, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Naxos)

Verdi - Un ballo in maschera: Act 1 (Placido Domingo/Katia Ricciarelli/Renato Bruson/Elena Obraztsova/Edita Gruberova/Claudio Abbado, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro all Scala, DG)

J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No.5 & No.6 (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Virgin Veritas)

Mendelssohn - Symphony No.5 Reformation (Riccardo Muti, New Philharmonia Orchestra, EMI)

bombasticDarren wrote:Mendelssohn - Symphony No.5 Reformation (Riccardo Muti, New Philharmonia Orchestra, EMI)

It's good, but I prefer Abbado/LSO

Robert Schumann
Symphony 1 & 2
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Rafael Kubelik - conducting.

This is a lovely colourful performance by the Bavarians, thanks Fergus.