# Toyko String Quartet



## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

I read this week, that the Toyko String Quartet is disbanding in 2013. I think that I must hear them in concert a half-dozen times. The one thing that has for me always stood out is the beauty of sound. I can` think of an other group that has four "Strads". For quite a while they were not active in the recording studio, but they now have a complite Beethoven cycle, and some of it it is quite beautiful.


----------



## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

That will be a shame, but the news online is confirming this.

http://www.allthingsstrings.com/News/News/Tokyo-String-Quartet-to-Disband-in-2013

* mod, will it possible to edit the title, so that the search of "Tokyo" will benefit from this. tq


----------



## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

Have by them Hayd'n 6 op.50. Best version I ever heard. Fantastic.


----------



## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

I read about this. The two retiring are the two remaining founding members; a blogger I read says that trying to find suitable replacements for them would be a "nearly insurmountable task." Well, they had a wonderful run, and few chamber ensembles live forever. They, with Richard Stoltzman, made the best recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet I've ever heard.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

For me, their Haydn Op. 76.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Odnoposoff said:


> Have by them Haydn's 6 op.50. Best version I ever heard. Fantastic.


Yep, the original members, I think - one European. At least as good as any I've heard.


----------



## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

I've op.50 copied from a vinyls DGG box. I believe it weren't published on CD. Or if it did, it's totally OOP now. Absolute accuracy and perfect ensamble. One of the best string quartet recordings I know.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Odnoposoff said:


> I've op.50 copied from a vinyls DGG box. I believe it weren't published on CD. Or if it did, it's totally OOP now. Absolute accuracy and perfect ensamble. One of the best string quartet recordings I know.


The LP issue is pretty well known among the 'old hands'. the Google archives may still have posts from RMCR. The degree of enthusiasm is mixed.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Hilltroll72 said:


> The LP issue is pretty well known among the 'old hands'. the Google archives may still have posts from RMCR. The degree of enthusiasm is mixed.


Re mixed, gentle versus robust interps?


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Vaneyes said:


> Re mixed, gentle versus robust interps?


Well, I dunno. The 'mixed' I meant was that some RMCRers didn't like the set as well as I did. These were the 1st Op. 50s I heard, and they are good enough to establish my standard for interpretations. The first 50-60 or so LPs I owned got heard many times; that kind of locks things in. It's a different situation than with, say, the Petersen SQ, where I heard several recordings and decided that they could do no wrong, or that the Vermeer SQ play late Beethoven closest to the way I prefer it played (except for Op. 133). I guess we come to our favorites by ways less than Scientific... .


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Hard to believe DG still can't find a spot for this in reissuings. Most recent example being their DUO series. Meanwhile, ArkivMusic does it in CDRs. LOL

View attachment 4625
View attachment 4626
View attachment 4627


Cello - Sadao Harada, Viola - Kazuhide Isomura, Violin 1 - Koichiro Haruda, Violin 2 - Yoshiko Nakura


----------



## Guest (Apr 28, 2012)

I enjoy their recent middle and late Beethoven Quartets on Harmonia Mundi. The playing is wonderful, and the multi-channel SACD audio is gorgeous.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I never warmed up to them. From what I remember from hearing them playing Beethoven, their playing sounded too clinical; perfect but missing something. But I could be wrong; I do lean toward less-than-perfect in favor of expression, like with the Lindsay SQ.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> I never warmed up to them. From what I remember from hearing them playing Beethoven, their playing sounded too clinical; perfect but missing something. But I could be wrong; I do lean toward less-than-perfect in favor of expression, like with the Lindsay SQ.


Hah. I find the Lindsay too much less-than-perfect. The Tokyo has been around a long time, with changing members, and their playing style variation over time is reflected in their recordings. Seems like that happens to all the long-lived ensembles, e.g. the Julliard and the Italiano SQs. My guess is that the 1st violin is usually the critical part.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Tokyo's stellar early reputation from DG and Sony years carried forward through decades on other labels. Not convinced it was warranted most of the time.

Re The Lindsays, I'm bullish on their Haydn Opp. 50 & 71.


----------



## Quartetfore (May 19, 2010)

Kontrapunctus said:


> I enjoy their recent middle and late Beethoven Quartets on Harmonia Mundi. The playing is wonderful, and the multi-channel SACD audio is gorgeous.


I own their Op#59 set, and enjoy it very much. I have the Quartteo Italiano complete set, and turn too it once in awhile. I can`t say that I like one over the other, they are just different. Both are valid in there own way.


----------



## robert (Feb 10, 2007)

I love this group
I think there Beethoven is the best, there Bartok is first rate (dg) I like it more than the Emerson...


----------



## Hausmusik (May 13, 2012)

Manxfeeder said:


> I never warmed up to them. From what I remember from hearing them playing Beethoven, their playing sounded too clinical; perfect but missing something. But I could be wrong; I do lean toward less-than-perfect in favor of expression, like with the Lindsay SQ.


Hi there Manx,
The Tokyo Quartet have gone through a series of personnel changes over the years. I'm not a big fan of the latest lineup (who have recorded on Harmonia Mundi, and who gave a rather dull concert I attended a few months ago) but in their 80s and 90s "incarnations" they released some of my all-time favorite chamber music recordings, notably their Brahms, Beethoven and Schubert. Many of these are sadly out-of-production, but I am hoping for a cheap Sony box set some day.


----------

