# Favourite string quartet CDs?



## Helgi (Dec 27, 2019)

Do you have any favourite string quartet CDs?

I don't mean favourite string quartet or quartet ensemble, but an album release (not limited to physical formats of course) where the combination of works and performances amount to something special.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

All of these..


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

For a start ......

3 wonderful compositions from 3 excellent composers in scintillating sound and performed to near-perfection.


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## bavlf (Oct 4, 2020)

Supraphon: The Best of Czech Classics: String Quartets:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

This one has been a favorite for several years. I prefer the Szymanowski quartets and I recommend his music for piano and violin as well. It's really superb music!


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

In addition to the above, i'd recommend Pavel Haas, Quatuor Voce, and the Jerusalem Quartet


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Just two off the top of my head, but they are superb.

Debussy, Ravel, and Faure: Quatuor Ebene









Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Shostakovich - Gabrieli and Borodin Quartets


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Debussy* & *Ravel*: _String Quartets _(on period instruments)
Eroica Quartet

View attachment 152863


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Have a lovely Beethoven String Quartet set by Endellion SQ


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

There are a number that I might pick, but this one stands above the rest:


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Just two off the top of my head, but they are superb.
> 
> Debussy, Ravel, and Faure: Quatuor Ebene
> 
> ...


These discs also came into my mind, the Ebène's for their vivid playing and the very natural addition of the Fauré to the de facto Debussy/Ravel coupling, and the Gabrieli/Borodin's for one of the Borodin's "orphan" Shostakovich #8s and the Gabrieli's Tchaikovsky #1 with its nice Andante cantabile.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

A couple of blinding Pavel Haas recordings, a wonderful Naxos Mendelssohn release and a super mixed release from the Calidore Quartet.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Helgi said:


> Do you have any favourite string quartet CDs?
> 
> I don't mean favourite string quartet or quartet ensemble, but an album release (not limited to physical formats of course) where the combination of works and performances amount to something special.


Everyone will agree that the greatest active quartet is The Arditti. This is their first recording, it has works by Beethoven and Bartok and Ruth Crawford Seger and Iannis Xenakis and Roger Reynolds. As a concept it works very well.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

These five are among my favorite String Quartet CDs

Dvorak String Quartet no 12, 'American', Tchaikovsky String Quartet no 1, and Borodin String Quartet no 2









Bacewicz String Quartets 1-7









Debussy and Ravel 









Smetana String Quartet no 1 and Janacek String Quartets 1 and 2









Britten


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## Helgi (Dec 27, 2019)

Wow - good stuff, people!



Allegro Con Brio said:


>


That Ebene album is the reason I started thinking about this in the first place, it's one of those I have a feeling I will be returning to for years and years.



Mandryka said:


> Everyone will agree that the greatest active quartet is The Arditti. This is their first recording, it has works by Beethoven and Bartok and Ruth Crawford Seger and Iannis Xenakis and Roger Reynolds. As a concept it works very well.
> 
> View attachment 152899


I have heard of them (and their god-like abilities) but I don't think I've ever listened to a recording of theirs. I will seek this one out.


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## Helgi (Dec 27, 2019)

wkasimer said:


> There are a number that I might pick, but this one stands above the rest:
> 
> View attachment 152883


This one is now on my list - I have the (famous?) D810/op.135 album and it's one that I return to often.



Merl said:


> All of these..
> 
> View attachment 152794
> 
> View attachment 152796


The Pacifica collection should land on my doorstep any day now, excited about that one. And I've been meaning to get the Artemis, I have their Dvorak #13/Janacek #2 CD.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

The concept of the 'Soviet Experience' works so well.

I obviously bought this set for the marvellous performances of the *DSCH* string quartets, and at the point of purchase the 'concept' and 'fillers' were of no consequence to me.

However, on living with these recordings over the last 3/4 years, I realise that to also have superb performances of quartets by *Myaskovsky*, *Prokofiev*, *Weinberg* & *Schnittke* is not only a of enormous benefit _per se, _it provides stimulating comparators and some interesting context for the Shostakovich works.

As such, this is a wonderful set for any lover of string quartets in general, and the Soviet era in particular.


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## WNvXXT (Nov 22, 2020)




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## Helgi (Dec 27, 2019)

I found out why I haven't heard any Arditti: 98% of their repertoire is outside of my field of vision. I didn't find the album posted above but did listen to a very impressive Ligeti SQ #1.

That Hagen Op.95/D887 disc is quite something! Very intense.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

Beethoven string quartets by Guarneri Quartet on Philips


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Bruckner Anton said:


> Beethoven string quartets by Guarneri Quartet on Philips


Reissued by Brilliant - I have it in one of their comprehensive Beethoven doorstop boxes.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

This is a slightly unusual combination that works well for me:


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I really like my Mozart box with the Hagen Quartett


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## Helgi (Dec 27, 2019)

Same here, Kjetil, that's a great box.



Malx said:


> This is a slightly unusual combination that works well for me:


Pigeon - Cat - Pigeon

?

Looks interesting.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

wkasimer said:


> There are a number that I might pick, but this one stands above the rest:
> 
> View attachment 152883


To get this one (Hagen Q. Schubert D 887 + LvB op.95) I paid around full price for a used (fortunately almost like new) disc several years ago, after a long time of searching (I refused to get a burned disc that was offered by some company and also wouldn't pay > 20 Euros, so when I found a copy for around 16 I grabbed it). And it is special and certainly deserves being mentioned here.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Kreisler jr said:


> To get this one (Hagen Q. Schubert D 887 + LvB op.95) I paid around full price for a used (fortunately almost like new) disc several years ago, after a long time of searching (I refused to get a burned disc that was offered by some company and also wouldn't pay > 20 Euros, so when I found a copy for around 16 I grabbed it). And it is special and certainly deserves being mentioned here.


I'm surprised that DG hasn't issued a box with all of their Hagen recordings.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)




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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

wkasimer said:


> I'm surprised that DG hasn't issued a box with all of their Hagen recordings.


Maybe there are some legal issues after they left DG. There are a few more almost introuvables among their DG discs (e.g. one with Dvorak op.105 I had not even been aware of until fairly recently).

Another quartet disc I had searched for a long time (but neither music nor interpretation are that special) was Honegger's 3 quartets with the Erato quartet (on the cheapo label Ermitage but it usually went for prices I found too high).
It's astonishing how badly served some composers beyond the most famous ones are on disc, Milhaud is another case with the main/only complete recordings of his SQ (quatuor Parisii) being long oop and outrageously expensive or not available at all.

The pity is that in these days often downloads are the only thing one can hope for.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Kreisler jr said:


> Maybe there are some legal issues after they left DG. There are a few more almost introuvables among their DG discs (e.g. one with Dvorak op.105 I had not even been aware of until fairly recently).


That's the one Hagen disc I've never heard.


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