The Wihan Quartet is not Chinese or Thai but Czech, and if one is to believe the packaging, the live concerts from which this double-CD release was drawn represented the first complete cycle of the Beethoven quartets ever performed in Prague. (How could this be, in that musically rich city?) All three groups of Beethoven quartets -- late, middle, and now early -- were recorded and are available.The quartet's members are young, and taken individually the six early quartets in this release present various decisions with which ... Read More
The Wihan Quartet is not Chinese or Thai but Czech, and if one is to believe the packaging, the live concerts from which this double-CD release was drawn represented the first complete cycle of the Beethoven quartets ever performed in Prague. (How could this be, in that musically rich city?) All three groups of Beethoven quartets -- late, middle, and now early -- were recorded and are available.The quartet's members are young, and taken individually the six early quartets in this release present various decisions with which many listeners will take issue. Many of them relate to tempo; the group is on the fast side pretty much throughout, and the Andante con moto of the String Quartet No. 3 in D major, Op. 18/3, is a very brisk walk indeed. In some of the climactic passages the music comes a bit close for comfort to the edge. Yet this set is one of those that adds up to more than the sum of its parts. The sheer enthusiasm of the performers carries them through dicey passages, and there are any number of... Read Less
Add this copy of Early String Quartets to cart. $33.96, new condition, Sold by newtownvideo rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from huntingdon valley, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Nimbus Records.
