Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13, Grosse Fuge - Pražák Quartet
Praga Digitals PRD/DSD 250 206
Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid
Classical - Chamber
Beethoven: String Quartets Opp. 130 and 133
Pražák Quartet
Originally written as the finale of the quartet op. 130 and, in fact, finale of the set dedicated to Prince Galitsin (opp. 127, 132), the “GROSSE FUGE” (the Great Fugue) ends today the complete set of Beethoven's string quartets, providing its crowning moment as formally rigorous as deeply human by its search for absolute.
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Review by John Broggio - March 6, 2006
This is one of the pinnacles of the quartet repertoire sadly the Pražák don’t manage to make as much sense of the opening as many; the following Allegro is better with plenty of energy and gravitas. This is where the playing style of the Pražák Quartet emphatically playing all the markings comes into its own – it is just a shame that they didn’t tone it down for the early and middle quartets. The Scherzo is taken at a nice pace – not lightning quick as in the Emerson Quartet but not sluggish either – there are no technical problems to report in a notoriously tricky movement. The Andante is played nicely with the “oddities” that Beethoven throws in, nicely pointed up. The subsequent Alla danza tedesca lilts along in a very pleasant manner – it is as though we are observing a dance on a lazy summers’ afternoon. Unfortunately the sublime Cavatina appears to get the better of the Pražák mentally – they play all the notes in the right order at the right time and with the right dynamic but they don’t quite manage to make it into a cohesive whole; at no point did I feel like it would break concentration to breath as with other quartets. The Pražák Quartet then choose to employ the Grosse Fuge Op.133 as the finale to the quartet, with its original ending as an appendix but naturally one can make a different choice. Op.133 is given a very strong performance technically but again, compared to other quartets (such as Busch, Takács to name but two), the musical whole is somehow missing which is a real shame. The original ending is played quite quickly – a little too quickly for me as it lacks any sense of the magnitude of the composition that precedes it. The recording is nicely balanced with a nice ambience given to the players.
Copyright © 2006 John Broggio and HRAudio.net
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