What download have you bought?

[Beef Oven!]

I have listened to sections via QOBUZ streaming. I was not much taken with what I heard. Perhaps I was out of sorts. I will try again but to me there seemed a lack of 'bite'. Some of what I heard just seemed very matter of fact - more English than Magyar. Have you tried Brooklyn Rider's recording of the 2nd Quartet on A Walking Fire? I do hope they record more Bartok.

I think that was what the Guardian reviewer was hedging his bets on. Go back to it, I think there's more to it than that - I think it will be a slow-burner for some, and will be considered up there with the best in the fullness of time.

[Bryn]

I think that was what the Guardian reviewer was hedging his bets on. Go back to it, I think there's more to it than that - I think it will be a slow-burner for some, and will be considered up there with the best in the fullness of time.

I am listening via QOBUZ 320kpbs mp3 streaming again. Yes there is more to them than my dipping in suggested. However, I then discovered that the 1954 Végh Quartet stereo recordings have been remastered and issued on the Praga label (not available via QOBUZ, so it's the CDs that I have ordered):



I will make do with the QOBUZ stream where the Heath Quartet is concerned.

[Beef Oven!]

I'm sorely tempted, but I'm going away on holiday on Thursday, so won't be able to get my hands on them until I'm back in August. I'll wait and who knows, they may be available on download. I really don't want any more CDs if I can help it.

[jayne lee wilson]

On Qobuz HiFi, I tried the Heath Quartet's Bartok 3 & 4 and I think (at least in respect of these two) Andrew Clements was spot-on. They are superbly played and recorded - exceptionally transparent, refined, precise and detailed, with an almost opulent tonal fullness, and no serious lack of energy. But then try either of the Vegh's recordings (1954/72) and you'll hear what's missing: that extra sharpness of accents and pointedly angular phrasing; almost a wildness of articulation, a freer expressive abandon which can make the Heaths sound a little studied, almost over-prepared. I felt there could have been a greater range of tonal colour and humour on offer on the new set too.

I realise of course that this is a bit unfair - it may be impossible to recapture the Végh's idiomatic sound and phrasing, the sense of being plugged into the Bartokian folk-dance source, so close to the composer as Sandor Végh was in the Hungarian Quartet too. That expressive spontaneity born of deep, intimate connection to the music.

So whist I admired the technical excellence of what the Heath Quartet were doing, I didn't feel compelled to buy it. But when I saw Bryn's tip-off of a new stereo remaster of Végh 1954... I didn't need telling twice! Thanks, Bryn.

(Incidentally you can listen to the earlier Végh in mono via Qobuz on the BNF label... it's dated 1960, but surely the Véghs only recorded the cycle twice - didn't they? I can't find evidence of another anywhere. The only other Végh Bartok release I have here is the Orfeo of No.3 (1968 Bavarian Radio, c/w Schubert d887) another wonderfully free & fantastical reading. Over a minute longer than 1972 and making trenchant use of the extra breathing space!

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=vegh+quartet+bartok&i=boutique

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000028B2D/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

[cloughie]

On Qobuz HiFi, I tried the Heath Quartet's Bartok 3 & 4 and I think (at least in respect of these two) Andrew Clements was spot-on. They are superbly played and recorded - exceptionally transparent, refined, precise and detailed, with an almost opulent tonal fullness, and no serious lack of energy. But then try either of the Vegh's recordings (1954/72) and you'll hear what's missing: that extra sharpness of accents and pointedly angular phrasing; almost a wildness of articulation, a freer expressive abandon which can make the Heaths sound a little studied, almost over-prepared. I felt there could have been a greater range of tonal colour and humour on offer on the new set too.

I realise of course that this is a bit unfair - it may be impossible to recapture the Végh's idiomatic sound and phrasing, the sense of being plugged into the Bartokian folk-dance source, so close to the composer as Sandor Végh was in the Hungarian Quartet too. That expressive spontaneity born of deep, intimate connection to the music.

So whist I admired the technical excellence of what the Heath Quartet were doing, I didn't feel compelled to buy it. But when I saw Bryn's tip-off of a new stereo remaster of Végh 1954... I didn't need telling twice! Thanks, Bryn.

(Incidentally you can listen to the earlier Végh in mono via Qobuz on the BNF label... it's dated 1960, but surely the Véghs only recorded the cycle twice - didn't they? I can't find evidence of another anywhere. The only other Végh Bartok release I have here is the Orfeo of No.3 (1968 Bavarian Radio, c/w Schubert d887) another wonderfully free & fantastical reading. Over a minute longer than 1972 and making trenchant use of the extra breathing space!

http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=...tok&i=boutique

There is a Scribendum box by the Veghs - is this the 1954 set - the box includes a lot of other SQs including the Complete Beethoven - anyone heard them and con comment on their sound?

[Bryn]

There is a Scribendum box by the Veghs - is this the 1954 set - the box includes a lot of other SQs including the Complete Beethoven - anyone heard them and con comment on their sound?

I got the Scribendum box in February, it is very good, but this new Praga set of the Bartok Quartets claims to be "Genuine Stereo". How, I do not know. The implication is that the master tapes were multi-track, but in 1954? These were Columbia recordings made in London. Surely Warner would have had the nous to re-issue them in stereo if the spacial information was there? I will find out soon enough, I suppose.

[Just a minor point re. the Scribendum box, the metadata can be somewhat unreliable. On the final disc, (Bartok 2, 4 and 6), the 6th gets labelled in the metadata on the disc as the number 5 but with only 4 movements. ]

[Bryn]

Getting back to the Heath Quartet Bartok set, the quarter tones in the 6th are particularly well handled, I feel.

[Beef Oven!]

I got the Scribendum box in February, it is very good, but this new Praga set of the Bartok Quartets claims to be "Genuine Stereo". How, I do not know. The implication is that the master tapes were multi-track, but in 1954? These were Columbia recordings made in London. Surely Warner would have had the nous to re-issue them in stereo if the spacial information was there? I will find out soon enough, I suppose.

[Just a minor point re. the Scribendum box, the metadata can be somewhat unreliable. On the final disc, (Bartok 2, 4 and 6), the 6th gets labelled in the metadata on the disc as the number 5 but with only 4 movements. ]

The only Vegh 1954 Bartok set I've heard is on Naxos Historical which I've listened to on AppleMusic. Very good sound quality, in my view. If the Praga set is an improvement on the Naxos et al, then it should be quite something.

[mahlerei]

Detlev Glanert
Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch (version 2016)
David Wilson-Johnson (voice)
Aga Mikolaj (soprano)
Ursula Hesse von den Steinen (mezzo)
Gerhard Siegel (tenor)
Christof Fischesser (bass)
Netherlands Radio Choir/Edward Caswell (chorus master)
Leo van Doeselaar (organ)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Markus Stenz
Rec. live, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, 5 November 2016 (world premiere)
RCO LIVE RCO17005

[Petrushka]

Detlev Glanert
Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch (version 2016)
David Wilson-Johnson (voice)
Aga Mikolaj (soprano)
Ursula Hesse von den Steinen (mezzo)
Gerhard Siegel (tenor)
Christof Fischesser (bass)
Netherlands Radio Choir/Edward Caswell (chorus master)
Leo van Doeselaar (organ)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Markus Stenz
Rec. live, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, 5 November 2016 (world premiere)
RCO LIVE RCO17005

Any thoughts?

I noticed this new release with interest and would be glad to know if it's worth buying.

[mahlerei]

Hi Petrushka

Hope to have a preliminary listen tomorrow. As for the Fischer Mahler 3, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. An exceptional and challenging performance, beautifully recorded. Fischer's best Mahler to date, IMO. Full comparative review with Haitink/BRSO at t'usual place :)

[jayne lee wilson]

The only Vegh 1954 Bartok set I've heard is on Naxos Historical which I've listened to on AppleMusic. Very good sound quality, in my view. If the Praga set is an improvement on the Naxos et al, then it should be quite something.

Alexandra Evrard's stereo remaster of the Vegh 1954 Bartok Cycle for Praga Digitals is....astounding. It sounds like Bartok's Bartok, at once radical and definitive; the Quartet is spaciously set in a lively acoustic, with a remarkable (well, scarcely believable) range of tonal colour and dynamics for its date (well, for any date, really).
No opulence here, no "beauty of tone"; no "stunning precision of ensemble" or rhythmic acuity; nothing of the circus about it.
Just - the music speaking as plainly and intensely as it can through the vessel of the Vegh Quartet. If I can make sense of the over-excited scrawl of my notes I'll try to say more later, but - I'm only up to No.4 and it's already my Album of the Year. A landmark and - A Listening Event.

(Thanks to Bryn once again for highlighting this.... it has revitalised my listening year.)

[Beef Oven!]

Alexandra Evrard's stereo remaster of the Vegh 1954 Bartok Cycle for Praga Digitals is....astounding. It sounds like Bartok's Bartok, at once radical and definitive; the Quartet is spaciously set in a lively acoustic, with a remarkable (well, scarcely believable) range of tonal colour and dynamics for its date (well, for any date, really).
No opulence here, no "beauty of tone"; no "stunning precision of ensemble" or rhythmic acuity; nothing of the circus about it.
Just - the music speaking as plainly and intensely as it can through the vessel of the Vegh Quartet. If I can make sense of the over-excited scrawl of my notes I'll try to say more later, but - I'm only up to No.4 and it's already my Album of the Year. A landmark and - A Listening Event.

(Thanks to Bryn once again for highlighting this.... it has revitalised my listening year.)

Shame, I was getting quite enthusiastic.

[HighlandDougie]

In Beefy's absence on his hols, a dearth of posts. Anyway, today's e-classical bargain: Alexei Ogrintchouk, principal oboist of the Concertgebouw, in Richard Strauss - Oboe Concerto (with the RCO, conducted by Andris Nelsons), Wind Serenade in E flat major Op 7 and Wind Sonatina No 2 in E flat major (the latter two with other members of the orchestra). Recording quality up to the usual standard from this source:

http://www.eclassical.com/performers/ogrintchouk-alexei/strauss-oboe-concerto.html

[mathias broucek]

I have his Bach concertos and they are terrific