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The
Italian Quartet
Released in 1954 as UK Decca ffrr LPs LXT 2811 & LXT 2856
(Duration
1hr 8'24")
Quartet
No. 6 in B flat Op. 18, No. 6
Quartet
No. 7 in F Op. 59, No. 1 (Rasumovsky No. 1)
Play
sample movement:
These
two String Quartets, written just 6 years apart in 1800 and 1806 respectively,
came at a time of huge creativity for Beethoven, which was to include
the first three symphonies, numerous piano and violin sonatas, the Third
Piano Concerto and many other works. They were followed in 1807 by the
4th Symphon and in 1808 by the 5th and 6th Symphonies.
Beethoven's
first nine string quartets were written in two groups - the six of Op.
18 and the three "Razumovsky" quartets of Op. 59, and here we
leap from the last of the first set to the first of the second set in
two beautiful Decca recordings from 1954, superbly remastered for Pristine
Audio by Peter Harrison at disk2disc.
It
is astonishing to read, when one listens to these interpretations, that
these recordings were not particularly highly regarded at the time. Perhaps
that explains their failure to be reissued until now. But we like them
a lot - and we think you will too!
REVIEW
OF BEETHOVEN: String Quartet's Nos 6 & 7
(Quartetto Italiano) (1954)
This
stunning recording has much for the head, more for the heart,
and really kicks ass (my ass, that is!).
Rarely
has the difference between the young Beethoven and the heroic
middle period Beethoven been made so clear by both physical
and artistic juxtaposition.
The
young Italian quartet propels the first movement of the 6th
quartet as if shot out of a gun: bouyant, unbuttoned, insouciant,
devil-may-care-young Beethoven to a tee. The slow movement
is sensitive but does not tolerate lingering. The scherzo
is giddy with offbeat accents and sudden fortissimos. The
"Malincolia" [Melancholy] finale in which the composer
or at least the music is subject to bouts of sadness loses
much of the afflatus of the three earlier movements but still
manages to be enjoyable. This performance is one of the greatest
I've ever heard.
Everything
seems different for Beethoven's Quartet #7 (Rasoumovsky #1).
First of all, this is the "Eroica" of Beethoven's
Quartets. Like its namesake, it at one leap enlarges the quartet
form by nearly a factor of two. It has a scherzo in sonata
form. It's first movement is vast both emotionally and musically.
The tone is completely different from early Beethoven; it
is objective and heroic. The Italian Quartet is sober and
expansive. But it is also something else in this recording
that I find unique: the cello and viola are given great prominence
which leads to a more tragic intensity and makes such violin-intensive
performances like the Alban Berg and the Emerson Quartets
sound rather salonish.
I
have never heard a Scherzo to equal this one. Frankly, the
Scherzo with all its developments can get tedious. Not here!
The slow movement is incredibly moving with the young (he
must be!) Paolo Borciani, the first violinist, playing with
great intensity and tenderness. The last movement can sound
anti-climatic, but here it is joyous and unbuttoned, almost
like early Beethoven, but subjected to developments beyond
his ken.
The
reproduction is both mellow and lifelike in Quartet #7. There
is some harshness in #6, but who cares, since one has a front
seat on a first class rocket.
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