# Budapest String Quartet's Beethoven......



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

They have 2 sets available, a stereo and a mono.
Which is considered to be the better of the two?
Thanks :tiphat:


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The older mono set is usually considered better musically. The newer stereo has better sound but one or two of the players had intonation issues arising from age by that time. Both sets, IMO, have been superseded by the likes of Tokyo, Berg, and Takacs.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

As mentioned above the mono set is better. The sound is decent for mono but it's very dry (you might need to drink a glass of water between movements). As good as the performances are, for me I'd rather hear this repertoire in much better sound and equally well played so Takacs, Quartetto Italiano, The Lindsays and especially the Veghs (the 70s set not the roughly recorded first set) are a much better bet. There's no doubting the musicianship of the Budapest Quartet and they are very impressive accounts but they are so dryly recorded I find it hard to listen to. If you can, listen before you buy or just go for the Veghs cos that set is great.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

There were some live concerts available that were taped at the Library of Congress on the Bridge Label that may still be available


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Thanks guys. You are a big help.
I have decided, with Merl's and your help to skip the Budepest
and order volume 1 of the Decca Takacs set.
Can't wait to check it out! :tiphat:


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Itullian said:


> Thanks guys. You are a big help.
> I have decided, with Merl's and your help to skip the Budepest
> and order volume 1 of the Decca Takacs set.
> Can't wait to check it out! :tiphat:


I think you're making a mistake.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

KenOC said:


> Both sets, IMO, have been superseded by the likes of Tokyo, Berg, and Takacs.


I think you are wrong about this.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Mandryka said:


> I think you're making a mistake.


How so?....................


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

The older mono set is more objective, more like Toscanini. I'm talking about these recordings, not so much the Library of Congress recordings, some of which are very good too.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Itullian said:


> How so?....................


I think that in the later quartets what they do demands to be heard by anyone who's curious about the music, for example, their Op 132 certainly, and I'd say their op 131 too, and op 135. The sound quality is listenable but the interpretations are very distinctive.

The later recordings have a sort of spiritual glow which some people I know find magical.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

So the stereo set is freer in expression then?

How about the sound on them?


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Itullian said:


> So the stereo set is freer in expression then?


I don't know, it's too hard right now to say.



Itullian said:


> How about the sound on them?


The sound is listenable -- I mean IMO fine.

Sorry wrong picture, can't delete it!

But you know you can sample these things easily surely, only you can decide your tolerances. In the UK there's a lot on youtube even!


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

^^^I have that Hungarian set and like it a lot.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I like the Berg, the Quartetto Italiano and the Amadeus, although I'm aware a lot of people don't care for them (the Amadeus, that is).


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

The earlier set is a top 3 or 4 in my rank. The playing and sound (the latter adjusted for technological inflation) are both better than the later set. The later set sounds less pleasant to me, harsh stereo and poor ensemble. The earlier set is tight and clean mono, their dynamics more nuanced.

PS I also like their Mozart in the reissue from Sony. Again very nuanced and easy on the ears.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

There is, of course, a dark horse. A cycle without pedigree, by a quartet nobody's heard of, with an ugly cover, and costing a whole dollar. Couldn't be worth much, right? There just might be a surprise here as the performances are exemplary and the sonics are very good indeed.


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## mdf (Oct 20, 2014)

http://thebeethovenproject.com/exploring-the-beethoven-quartets-on-disc-many-paths-to-nirvana/


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Pulled the trigger


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