Beethoven Quartets

Oldwriter

As the winds of "Frances" head our way, I've been reviewing with pleasure my various recordings of the Beethoven string quartets - my favorite set being the one by the Tokyo String Quartet.
Merri and I heard the TSQ live a couple of years ago - awesome performers!
Now, as I'm starting to re-do my entire CD collection, I'm casting about for other people's suggestions/opinions on any or all new quartet recordings.
As I've posted on other forums, I tend toward the new SACDs, realizing - sadly - that this "wonderful" new medium may or may not ever truly get off the ground!
Anyway - I'd be open to all ideas. Please tell me of your favorites, and why: performance, recording techniques, etc.
Now - back to hurricane-prep 101. Let's see now, bottled water, emergency stove, rum, batteries - and did I mention rum?
(grin) Respectfully, Larry R.

gregure

Larry,
As much as I love Beethoven, I've really never been able to catch on to listening to chamber music. I have the later quartets on disc, but they don't get much playtime. Guess I'm all about the bigger sound of an orchetra. Good to see you on the board tho. Take care.

Oldwriter

Yo - Gregure - good to see your name again, also! Miss your wise and entertaining comments - and hoped I'd "dredge you up" again.
When I was young I, too, spent countless hours in front of large symphonies, and thought chamber music "wuss" music. Well, the older I get, the more I gravitate to the smaller ensembles - my wife says she likes music that "fits in my living room. Hmm. . .
Anyway - thanks for the posting - am eagerly awaiting the Mahler 2nd from San Francisco and MTT - do you happen to know its projected release date?
Still reveling in the Santa Fe Opera performances - so moving that I shed more than my share of tears. Natalie Dessay could sing the phone book and I'd still worship at her feet!
More anon - with thanks - larry R.

John K.

Larry, I also tend to appreciate full orchestral works more than chamber music, but the very colorful string quartets of Debussy and Ravel certainly give me great enjoyment and I think that they belong in every collection. An outstanding bargain (about $7)which besides the usual coupling of the Debussy and Ravel quartets also includes the exquisite Ravel Introduction and Allegro is found on Naxos 8.550249 . Beautiful music, fine performances and sound.

Oldwriter

. . .than I am, John K!! (grin) But yes, you are absolutely correct, and my friend, I'm going to research the link that you so kindly posted.
Beethoven's quartets are revelatory to me - but, again, I'm an antique on the plain of human existence! Hmm. . .
Thanks for your comments - sensitive and worthy, as always. Such is the nature of forums - you take the good with the, uh, not-so-good. U No Wat I meen. . .
respectfully, Larry R.

gregure

Don't get me wrong, I have a great appreciation for the smaller works, it's just not what gets my juices flowing. Even when I want to relax to something soothing, I still go w/ Debussy or Roderigo or Ravel, maybe some string music like Vaughan Williams's string pieces. I do have a few of those chamber works, for instance I really like Beethoven's cello sonatas. I just find quartets to be less involving than bigger works. I really like the color provided by a larger ensemble. About the only instrument that I could listen to at length when played solo is piano. But that is the most dynamic and colorful of all instruments in my opinion, so there you go. Hope you had a nice trip to N.M. Larry. Would love to hear about it when you have time.

Oldwriter

Yo - Greg and John - I found the suggested CD on Amazon, and have added it to a smallish order - with my thanks. The reviews of the disc indicate that it's something of real value!
As to the Santa Fe trip - rather than boring the forum-readers, I'll send you - Greg - an e-mail outlining the good, the bad, the ugly, etc. (grin)
BTW - have found a rather intriguing opera forum at a British site: operaphile.com. Have done a bit of chat there, as well as on the Gramophone site - both very slow in relation to the more mainstream sites, but some good comments there, at least for me.
Well, I'm away to try my nutzy antenna project - see other thread here on that - just have to get better FM reception, and a chap at a Boulder, CO, FM station says this should work. Basically, sink a screw into my steel studded wall, run a wire to receiver FM input. Presto, he says, use the whole, steel-framed house as an antenna. Of course, it might also bring in more noise than signal - what the heck - I need a hobby! GRIN
More anon - Larry R.

bikezappa

Not to change your thread but I rented the movie with Peter U that you recommended. It's about murder at a beach with the sun tan as a clue. Good movie with many surprises and twists. They really dressed in that movie with great attention to costumes.

Regarding Antennas and FM. I have spent about 36 months and much money trying to get a clean signal from WGBH in Boston. They have much live music on from 8 to 4 with no Feffin news. Makes the day go by nice while working.

Get an outside FM antenna and mount it as high as possible. If you listen to more than one station get a rotor also. If you have no money then get a pair of rabbit ears from RS and mount it as high as possible. Good luck in the quest.

The good tuners are ALL old. Try http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/ for more tuner and antenna info. If you have a reciever less than 15 years old, you probably have a $3 dollar tuner in it. Most digital tuners suck.

It is worth it to get good tunes from FM. Opens up a new world if you have good NPR stations. However the republicans are still trying to stop free NPR.

Sorry for the rant.

Peter

Oldwriter

Yep, Peter. This is what I did. Per instructions from an NPR FM engineer out in Boulder, CO.
Took a piece of 75-ohm antenna lead - cut off one end and screwed the other end to the receiver antenna post.
Other end - stripped back about an inch of insulation, exposing the central wire.
Got out my stud-finder. Remember, please, that our liddle house has all-Steel studs, not wood.
Anyway - found a stud sorta back of the stereo cabinet. Sank a drywall screw into the stud, with a couple of washers on it.
Bent the core wire of the antenna cable, and tightened it around the drywall screw. Sank the screw into the wall.
Got new Belkin plug-in surge supressors and noise filters. Put them on the wall plug.
Plugged in stereo components. Turned on the set, and Voila! The NPR station that we listen to came in clean and clear, and my wife is a much happier person. (if artists can ever be happy -sigh)
That's what we did - but probably wouldn't work for you, as you most likely have wood studs in your house?
Still have a really crappy CD player - the liddle JVC - and when I get enough money later this year, I'll be getting a better player. Maybe a Denon 2910 or a Samsung 941. Been reading a lot about the latter, and it seems that they're using the same "guts" as the 2910 - for about $350 less! Hmmm. . .
thanks for your posting - good to hear from you.
Respectfully, Larry R.