or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
27 used & new from Ł16.12
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Available to Download Now
 
Buy the MP3 album for Ł13.99
  
 
 
 
Bartók: The String Quartets (2 CDs)
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Bartók: The String Quartets (2 CDs) [Box set]

~ Andras Fejer
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Price: Ł25.39 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 17? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
22 new from Ł16.12 5 used from Ł22.36
Buy the MP3 album for Ł13.99 at the Amazon MP3 Downloads store.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this with Beethoven: String Quartets ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

Bartók: The String Quartets (2 CDs) + Beethoven: String Quartets
Price For Both: Ł33.37

Show availability and delivery details

  • This item: Bartók: The String Quartets (2 CDs) ~ Takács Quartet

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Beethoven: String Quartets ~ Ludwig van Beethoven

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Beethoven: String Quartets

Beethoven: String Quartets

~ Ludwig van Beethoven
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  Ł7.98
Beethoven: String Quartets Vol.3

Beethoven: String Quartets Vol.3

~ Takács Quartet
4.8 out of 5 stars (4) 
Mozart: String Quartets /Quatuor Mosaďques

Mozart: String Quartets /Quatuor Mosaďques

~ Quatuor Mosaiques
4.8 out of 5 stars (4)  Ł25.39
Bartók: Violin Sonatas/Contrasts

Bartók: Violin Sonatas/Contrasts

~ Béla Bartók
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  Ł4.89
Beethoven: The Early Quartets

Beethoven: The Early Quartets

~ Ludwig van Beethoven
Ł14.78
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Audio CD (16 Mar 1998)
  • SPARS Code: DDD
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Format: Box set
  • Label: Decca (UMO)
  • ASIN: B0000042GU
  • Other Editions: MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 71,029 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.


Disc 1:

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.1, Sz. 40 (Op.7) - 1. Lento 9:14Album Only
Listen  2. String Quartet No.1, Sz. 40 (Op.7) - 2. Allegretto 8:06Album Only
Listen  3. String Quartet No.1, Sz. 40 (Op.7) - 3. Introduzione. Allegro - Allegro vivace10:55Album Only
Listen  4. String Quartet No.3, Sz. 85 - 1. Prima parte (Moderato) 4:50Ł0.79
Listen  5. String Quartet No.3, Sz. 85 - 2. Seconda parte (Allegro) 5:31Ł0.79
Listen  6. String Quartet No.3, Sz. 85 - 3. Ricapitolazione della prima parte (Moderato) 4:56Ł0.79
Listen  7. String Quartet No.5, Sz. 102 - 1. Allegro 7:28Album Only
Listen  8. String Quartet No.5, Sz. 102 - 2. Adagio molto 6:04Ł0.79
Listen  9. String Quartet No.5, Sz. 102 - 3. Scherzo 4:55Ł0.79
Listen10. String Quartet No.5, Sz. 102 - 4. Andante 4:49Ł0.79
Listen11. String Quartet No.5, Sz. 102 - 5. Finale 6:53Ł0.79


Disc 2:

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. String Quartet No.2, Sz. 67 (Op.17) - 1. Moderato 9:41Album Only
Listen  2. String Quartet No.2, Sz. 67 (Op.17) - 2. Allegro molto capriccioso 7:15Album Only
Listen  3. String Quartet No.2, Sz. 67 (Op.17) - 3. Lento 8:45Album Only
Listen  4. String Quartet No.4, Sz. 91 - 1. Allegro 5:56Ł0.79
Listen  5. String Quartet No.4, Sz. 91 - 2. Prestissimo, con sordino 2:39Ł0.79
Listen  6. String Quartet No.4, Sz. 91 - 3. Non troppo lento 5:27Ł0.79
Listen  7. String Quartet No.4, Sz. 91 - 4. Allegretto pizzicato 2:36Ł0.79
Listen  8. String Quartet No.4, Sz. 91 - 5. Allegro molto 5:32Ł0.79
Listen  9. String Quartet No.6, Sz. 114 - 1. Mesto - Vivace 7:12Album Only
Listen10. String Quartet No.6, Sz. 114 - 2. Mesto - Marcia 7:45Album Only
Listen11. String Quartet No.6, Sz. 114 - 3. Mesto - Burletta (Moderato) 7:20Album Only
Listen12. String Quartet No.6, Sz. 114 - 4. Mesto 6:53Ł0.79

On this CD:
  1. String Quartet No. 1
    Composed by Béla Bartók

  2. String Quartet No. 2
    Composed by Béla Bartók

  3. String Quartet No. 3
    Composed by Béla Bartók

  4. String Quartet No. 4
    Composed by Béla Bartók

  5. String Quartet No. 5
    Composed by Béla Bartók

  6. String Quartet No. 6
    Composed by Béla Bartók

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars And to think... I was sold to it by the cover!, 14 Feb 2002
I purchased this CD about a year ago during a period of BARTOK exploration. To say that i loved the CD after listening to it for the first time would be an understatement; i was absolutely blown away!!! I have never before or since felt so completely and utterly pleased with any of my musical purchases. On every level the music is the most finely crafted musical WORK OF ART i have ever laid my ears upon.

As compositions they truely are incredible. To those of you who normallly shy away from non-tonal music (which of course there will be very few, having clicked on Bartok in the first place) LISTEN TO THIS!!! You will be converted! These peices are a composer gripped with incredible passion. There is not a contrived, cold or dull moment in the entire 2 and a half hours of listening to these discs. His attention to the most small of details, subtle qualities and potential of all four instruments is unsurpassed.

The performance is equally as incredible. These four instrumentalists play technically and emotionally in ways and to extremes that i never thought possible (credit as much to the composer as to the performers.) They play with vigour, speed, delicacy and charged emotion. Their minds are tuned into one another in a way that i have never heard or felt before; they become ONE incredible voice. They obviously know the music backwards (probably born with it, and together.)

My extensive knowledge on other performances of these works i can sum up simply by telling you that i have spent many hours under shop headphones in pursuit of the BEST (if it were at all possible to better it.) But from whatever way i looked at them i couldn't beat this one. And to think... that i was sold to it by the cover!

As far as the recording goes that too is perfect. Crisp, warm and perfectly balanced on any speaker... and i have personally put it through a vigourous testing schedule; anyone who is even remotely conected to me and has a cd and speaker system of any shape, size or quality has undergone the entire "BARTOK 6 STRING QUARTETS EXPERIENCE." To say that everyone was one over by my intense BARTOK grinding sessions would be a lie, but one thing is for sure... they have never heard anything in quite the same way since.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Overrated, 18 Oct 2008
This recent recording by the Takacs Quartet is very impressive technically but for me fails to get to the heart of these elusive quartets.

The performances themselves are beyond criticism in the apparent ease with which they negotiate this famously thorny music. However that's where the doubts start to creep in because the Takacs sound too studied and play in a big-boned way that robs the music of much of it's intimacy.

The performers are also recorded at too much distance and with too much reverberation for my taste. A recent Gramophone reviewer called it 'swimmy' and I think that aptly sums up the quality of loosing detail that you have in this set.

As the perfect companions in this music I would choose the Vegh Quartet (on Naive - Bartok - String Quartets Complete) or possibly the Hungarian Quartet (DG - Bartók: 6 String Quartets). Both are justly famous and really have this music in their blood. The recordings are both first rate too and close enough to hear the grit in their playing. They are both also available at at least half the price of this set.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars energy and warmth, 12 Aug 2002
By tony (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
If you are unused to listening to music of this sort this CD is a wonderful way to enter deeper into a beautiful musical world. The playing seems to me faultless and its intensity staggering. The contrasts between the energetic and sometimes strident sections and the delicately ethereal backdrops are marvellously reproduced and at times it's fascinating to hear the distinctive Hungarian folk harmonies portrayed with such naturalness by these immensely talented musicians. You might gather I recommend it!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Glossy
I find this recording too polished and too perfect. There's so much reverb on the recording, and I'm not sure if this is the acoustic of the the recording venue or the mastering... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Colski

5.0 out of 5 stars mind blowing stuff
Just listened to my recently delivered recording of these masterpieces. My God! This is the most intense and passionate music I think I've ever heard. Read more
Published 21 months ago by A. Browne

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Bartók: The String Quartets (2 CDs)
61% buy the item featured on this page:
Bartók: The String Quartets (2 CDs) 4.4 out of 5 stars (5)
Ł25.39
String Quartets 1 - 6 (Keller Quartet)
17% buy
String Quartets 1 - 6 (Keller Quartet) 5.0 out of 5 stars (3)
Ł6.98
Bartók: The String Quartets
8% buy
Bartók: The String Quartets
Ł25.39
Beethoven: String Quartets
7% buy
Beethoven: String Quartets 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
Ł7.98
Explore similar items

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject




i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.