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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
I am writing this to clarify a point made in Matthew Robinson's review. The item under review is in fact the Lindsays' first Beethoven cycle, recorded in the early 1980s with Roger Bigley on viola. They recorded the complete quartets again shortly before they disbanded, this time with Robin Ireland on viola. As far as I'm aware, the second cycle has never been issued as a boxed set.
The set under review would not be my first choice for the Beethoven quartets. That would be the Talich, with the Takacs as second choice. The Talich is not currently available as a box set. You can probably still get it in single CDs but that would probably be relatively expensive - the same applies to the Takacs. This set by the Lindsays is very fine indeed and if price is an important consideration, then it offers brilliant value for money. It's also worth bearing in mind that many people rate the Vegh recording on Naive highly and this is also available complete at a very reasonable price.
The set under review would not be my first choice for the Beethoven quartets. That would be the Talich, with the Takacs as second choice. The Talich is not currently available as a box set. You can probably still get it in single CDs but that would probably be relatively expensive - the same applies to the Takacs. This set by the Lindsays is very fine indeed and if price is an important consideration, then it offers brilliant value for money. It's also worth bearing in mind that many people rate the Vegh recording on Naive highly and this is also available complete at a very reasonable price.
29 of 33 people found the following review helpful
The Beethoven string quartets form an amazing body of music, composed over his lifetime. There is not a flat spot in there and, right from the off, they match, if not exceed all others. Don't be fooled by the so-called 'early' quartets, they were published when Beethoven was 30 and already an established star of the piano - he'd already written 10 sonatas, including the Pathetique.
I own a number of Beethoven String Quartet whole or partial cycles, including the Busch, Vegh, Talich, Takacs, Italian, Mosaiques, Alban Berg and Emerson (best avoided) and I've spent a number of years on the elusive search for the 'perfect' cycle.
I have to say that these recordings come as close as any, and at £20 for 8 CDs, you can't go far wrong. The Lindsays are the quartet that I come back to again and again, although you should not be disappointed with any of the above (the Busch version is regarded as definitive by purists, as with Schnabel's recordings of the piano sonatas, if you can put up with 1930's quality sound and some slightly ropey playing!).
The earlier cycle by the Lindsays is also worth listening to, but this cycle seems to bring a depth of understanding and feeling that can only come with age and experience.
One thing I must address: some reviewers complain about the 'rough and ready' of some of the Lindsays recordings and prefer a more high-gloss approach, but I think that completely misses the point. If you want to hear the real Beethoven, this is where to start - especially as the Takacs recordings (my other favourite) will cost you twice as much!
I own a number of Beethoven String Quartet whole or partial cycles, including the Busch, Vegh, Talich, Takacs, Italian, Mosaiques, Alban Berg and Emerson (best avoided) and I've spent a number of years on the elusive search for the 'perfect' cycle.
I have to say that these recordings come as close as any, and at £20 for 8 CDs, you can't go far wrong. The Lindsays are the quartet that I come back to again and again, although you should not be disappointed with any of the above (the Busch version is regarded as definitive by purists, as with Schnabel's recordings of the piano sonatas, if you can put up with 1930's quality sound and some slightly ropey playing!).
The earlier cycle by the Lindsays is also worth listening to, but this cycle seems to bring a depth of understanding and feeling that can only come with age and experience.
One thing I must address: some reviewers complain about the 'rough and ready' of some of the Lindsays recordings and prefer a more high-gloss approach, but I think that completely misses the point. If you want to hear the real Beethoven, this is where to start - especially as the Takacs recordings (my other favourite) will cost you twice as much!
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
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The greatness of the Lindsays in Beethoven is well known. I think my entry to the world of the string quartets was courtesy of the Italian Quartet, then bits and pieces with the Alban Berg and Vegh foursomes; however, it was the Lindsays who fleshed out the emotion and penetrated to the soul of this, the greatest of composers.
So why only 3-stars?
One mustn't forget that the Lindsays set down a second cycle in the early noughties, one which allegedly improved on the sound and even at times on the playing of these, the earlier 1970s/80s sessions. I say that, but here we come to my major gripe, looking to the long term: presentation.
A slim-line box almost too tall for my CD shelves, and that's partly to do with the use of cardboard rather than paper sleeves - paper is better because the discs slide out easier. Then there's the annoying economies over information. Where in the package does it even mention when or where these quartet recordings were made? Nowhere that I can see. On the back of the box is some encomia for the Lindsays but no index of the CD content and tracklistings; for that, you have to open the box and then open the booklet, or flip each of the sleeves over, and here we come to a related bother - the quartets are not in order. They go 1-5, 11, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, GF, 14-16.
Now this might look like nit-picking but in an age where people are often choosing music that is delivered in shall we say a virtual way, i.e. downloading it, music shared in a physical form like a CD in a box doesn't have to be beautiful or lavish but efficiency is a must. I dig out the Lindsays' box-set, thinking to listen to Op.59 No.1. I should be able to look on the back, see it listed for CD4, Tracks 1-4. Instead I have to delve into the booklet. This adds seconds to the act of putting the disc on, you might well say, but over the long term the unnecessary corner-cutting by Resonance will grate on one's nerves. At such a point, space-efficiency feels less of a virtue.
With old issues of both the first and second cycles still available through the marketplace and the future possibility of the second cycle being boxed up for reissue, maybe you should reconsider the value of this particular box-set. It's not the worst presentation I've come across (Oehms' Beethoven/Perl set holds the title there) but the magnificent Lindsays deserve better.
So why only 3-stars?
One mustn't forget that the Lindsays set down a second cycle in the early noughties, one which allegedly improved on the sound and even at times on the playing of these, the earlier 1970s/80s sessions. I say that, but here we come to my major gripe, looking to the long term: presentation.
A slim-line box almost too tall for my CD shelves, and that's partly to do with the use of cardboard rather than paper sleeves - paper is better because the discs slide out easier. Then there's the annoying economies over information. Where in the package does it even mention when or where these quartet recordings were made? Nowhere that I can see. On the back of the box is some encomia for the Lindsays but no index of the CD content and tracklistings; for that, you have to open the box and then open the booklet, or flip each of the sleeves over, and here we come to a related bother - the quartets are not in order. They go 1-5, 11, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, GF, 14-16.
Now this might look like nit-picking but in an age where people are often choosing music that is delivered in shall we say a virtual way, i.e. downloading it, music shared in a physical form like a CD in a box doesn't have to be beautiful or lavish but efficiency is a must. I dig out the Lindsays' box-set, thinking to listen to Op.59 No.1. I should be able to look on the back, see it listed for CD4, Tracks 1-4. Instead I have to delve into the booklet. This adds seconds to the act of putting the disc on, you might well say, but over the long term the unnecessary corner-cutting by Resonance will grate on one's nerves. At such a point, space-efficiency feels less of a virtue.
With old issues of both the first and second cycles still available through the marketplace and the future possibility of the second cycle being boxed up for reissue, maybe you should reconsider the value of this particular box-set. It's not the worst presentation I've come across (Oehms' Beethoven/Perl set holds the title there) but the magnificent Lindsays deserve better.
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