Beethoven String Quartets 1, 5, 8, & 9: VEGH QUARTET: Valois CDs Volumes 1 & 4

Description: Suggesting which quartets are best among Beethoven's 16 quartets is a bit silly, but there are some patterns. The first six, written before the transformative Third Symphony, are more classical, more akin to Haydn and Mozart, than the others. Yet #1 is delightful (I'm less familiar with 5 at moment). The famous Ramoumovsky quartets, #s 7, 8, & 9, are a REALLY GOOD STARTING PLACE or if you already have some, really worth doubling or tripling up on. Easy favorites so to speak. The Late Quartets are considered by many intellectuals to be the Mount Everest of Classical Music. These may require growing into but #15 in Am is the most accessible and absolutely gorgeous. So if you had none, getting 1, 7, 8, 9, and 15 would be a good starting point. Or get all 16 but play those five first. That being said, three of those five are provided here, plus number 5 which is probably wonderful too (all 16 are wonderful so it's only logical). Next comes WHO'S PLAYING! And by almost universal acclaim two sets represent the peak of the art, the creme de la creme, the ones who not only play beautifully but plummet the depths of Beethoven's spiritual ocean. And those are THE VEGH QUARTET and THE QUARTETTO ITALIANO. So here you have at least 3 of the five best quartets played by pretty much the acknowledged best quartet in recorded history (I'm putting the Vegh a smidgen above the Italians). And in my quest to collect all 16 by the Vegh, I've ended up with doubles of these two CDS. I think Vol 4 with Quartets 8 & 9 might be among the most important Beethoven CDs ever released. I see that there's some deterioration spots, some kind of oxidation I suppose, on the other disc. Playback is not affected but perhaps in a few few years, maybe longer, maybe never, the disc could begin to go bad. So I am asking less than I would if both looked very good. Frankly, Vol 4 alone is worth the price I'm asking. Please check out my 100 percent positive feedback rating on over 1200 transactions for reassurance. Thank you.

Price: 20 USD

Location: Lilburn, Georgia

End Time: 2023-12-02T21:34:52.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.92 USD