The Rias Amadeus Quartet recordings, volume 3 - 5 CD

Description

Between the 1950s and the 1970s, the Amadeus Quartet regularly visited the RIAS studios in Berlin. This box set reproduces almost the complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets that they had the opportunity to record between 1950 and 1962. Op. 127, however, was missing from the studio set; Audite added the recording of a concert given at the Hochschule in Berlin a little later, in 1967. Replacing the also missing “Harp” Quartet is the Op. 29 quintet with Cecil Aronowitz. These discs clearly reflect the quartet’s evolution through its interpretation of Beethoven’s music. The reference Deutsche Grammophon version (1977 and alas very poorly recorded) remains essential for its coherence and measured lyricism, and for that Viennese and Mozartian aspect that is their signature. The RIAS recording brings more. Risk-taking, direct commitment, rough edges. Their reading stands out; it is already faster, more spontaneous, while preserving cohesion and linearity. In fact, it seems much less stilted and of a far more wild and romantic spirit. Just listen to the Rasoumovsky or the late quartets: the tempi are free, the phrasing airy. Flexibility of playing, sonic beauty are very much present, but enhanced by a new and refreshed expressiveness. An almost improvised version that offers us another facet of this legendary quartet.