PACM007: String Quartets No 6 and 7

Pristine Classical Historic Recordings

PACM007: String Quartets No 6 and 7 - Beethoven

MP3
price

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.

Reviewer: Bill Rosen

Find out more:
6th Quartet: Third Mvt. (Scherzo)
About Beethoven:	BBC Artist Profile The Classical Music Pages Beethoven Bibliography Database
CD covers to print: (NB. Disable Page Scaling* before printing*)
CD-writing cuesheet (save as .cue): (Use this to split MP3 files - see here)
Download our Full Discography Printable text listings of all Pristine Audio historic releases
Restoration by Peter Harrison:

Pristine Classical - DRM-free historic FLAC and MP3 downloads since 2005