# Ravel - String Quartet in F major (SQ review)



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Here's the Sacconi Quartet playing the Ravel live at Wigmore Hall.... 






I've loved this string quartet since the very first time I heard it and play it fairly often. I still marginally prefer it to its usual disc companion, Debussy's String Quartet, and I've had a number of recordings of it for many years. However, I've always thought that there might be someone else who could do it differently than the excellent versions I already had. In particular I was looking for an earthier account, particularly in great recorded sound. However, I appreciate all approaches to this string quartet so no recording was out of the equation. So that was why I set off on the marathon Ravel listen. I knew there were a lot of recordings of this work, but until I actually started delving into it I could not imagine just how many there really were (hundreds)!

So, I've been listening to recordings and, apart from a few that I've personally disliked for one reason or another, the majority are at least good and many are excellent, only separated by slight personal preferences. I looked at Trout's predictable and out of date list and found out about others that were renowned by critics and SQ fans.

So here you go. Remember these are personal preferences. Some I already had but many others were new to me. The first set of recordings are the ones I personally think are very special but everything in the second and third sets I'd rate as excellent or really good in their own way too and many of you will no doubt disagree with me and love these recordings more. No particular order for each set.

*Set 1 - Top picks 

Hermes
Orpheus
Tinalley
Parkanyi
Lindsays
Ebene

Set 2 - Nearly there *

Italiano
Sacconi
Alexander (Renascence 2003)
Mandelring
Stenhammer
Talich (2012)
Modigliani
Leipziger
Avalon
Van Kuijk
Galimir (1982)
Kodaly
Petersen
Casals

*Set 3 - hugely recommended *

Arcanto
Eroica
Melos
Tokyo
Tesla
Belcea
Jerusalem
Puertas
Alban Berg
Daedalus
Orlando
Skampa
Auryn
Vlach
Signum

Set 4 - impressive

Hagen
Ruysdael (live)
Emerson
Sequoia
Juilliard (live and studio)
Keller
Dante
Orford
Panocha
New World
Loewenguth
Saguenay
Wilanow
Gerhard
Cypress
Panocha
Janacek
Travnicek
Chilingirian
Sine Nomine
Carmina
St. Petersburg
Bartok

What I will say is that the standard of string quartet playing today is outstanding and, I'd argue, technically even better than it was in the the 20th century. The ensemble playing on some of the latest sets is utterly fantastic (although the interpretation sometimes may be one I don't rate). It's been a pleasure listening to all these recordings. I didn't do it to say "Hey look at me and all the recordings I've listened to", I did it to find something new to me and I did. If you haven't had the chance to hear any of the recordings in set 1, and you love this string quartet, I'd urge you to give them a try. Every one is outstanding in their own way.


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