BaL 31.03.12 - Schubert's String Quartet No 14 "Death and the Maiden"

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library: Misha Donat with a personal recommendation from recordings of Schubert's String Quartet No 14 in D minor, D 810 "and the Maiden"

Available versions:


Alban Berg Quartett
Alcan String Quartet
Allegri Quartet
Amadeus Quartet – 2 versions (one nla)
Amadeus Quartet – 2 further versions
Asasello Quartet
Belcea Quartet
Borodin Quartet
Brandis Quartet
Budapest Quartet
Busch Quartet
Capet String Quartet
Chilingirian Quartet
Emerson String Quartet
Endellion String Quartet
Ensemble Oxalys, Muziektheater Transparant
Guarneri Quartet
Hagen Quartet (DVD)
Hollywood String Quartet
Hungarian String Quartet – 2 versions
Jerusalem Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet
Keller Quartet
Kodaly Quartet
Kolisch Quartet
Leipziger Streichquartett
The Lindsays
Mandelring Quartet
Melos Quartett
New Hungarian Quartet
Petersen Quartett
Quartetto Italiano
Quatuor Terpsycordes
Takács Quartet
Tokyo String Quartet
Verdi Quartett
Voce Quartet
Wronski String Quartet
Yggdrasil Quartet


Orchestral transcriptions by Mahler and others:

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Gerd Albrecht
Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Marco Boni
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Iona Brown
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta
Chamber Orchestra 'Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, Hartmut Haenchen
Kiev Chamber Orchestra, Roman Kofman
The Goldberg Ensemble, Malcolm Layfield
Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Lev Markiz
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Rosekrans
Moscow Virtuosi, Vladimir Spivakov

[Barbirollians]

Shame that the VPO Quartet recording that was coupled on Ovation with Curzon's Trout is nla.

[Norfolk Born]

It'll be nice to hear a bit of Schubert for a change.

[Don Petter]

As I mentioned on the Testament thread, I think the Juilliard recording on that label is unsurpassed of the versions I have heard. (I am somewhat alarmed to find that, between LPs and CDs, I had twenty seven recordings of the work when I stopped updating my catalogue about fifteen years ago. I doubt I have added many since, though.)

This is the first Juilliard version, with Robert Mann, Isidore Cohen, Raphael Hillyer and Claus Adam, which was originally on an RCA LP, not their later version on a Sony CD, by which time the players were Robert Mann, Earl Carlyss, Samuel Rhodes and Joel Krosnick.

I see that on Amazon someone is asking £100 for a copy of that LP, which presumably means there is some consensus in favour of the performance, though not necessarily to that degree, I would have thought.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Odd fact!

You know how you hear - and buy discs of - titled works loads more than their untitled companions?

Well, in the case of Schubert 4tets that doesn't quite work: D804 and D887 I've heard live five times each but Death in the Midden only once!

In my disc collection the G major is well ahead of the other two, probably because I love it the most and am still looking for the ideal performance. At the moment I think the Alban Bergs do it best.

[John Skelton]

My favourite recording of the 'Death and the Maiden Quartet', played by Quatuor Mosaïques, was issued in 2010 and neither MDT nor Presto now seem to list it. Amazon have it, though (Explicit Lyrics - well in a way!).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schubert-Death-Maiden-String-Quartets/dp/B0035GU9TS/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1332522858&sr=1-1

Incomparably vivid performance (IMO).

[verismissimo]

I seem to have the 1950s Amadeus and the Kellers.
Time for something new?

[verismissimo]

Gosh don't the Busches sound wonderful. And the recording outstanding for its time.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Gosh don't the Busches sound wonderful. And the recording outstanding for its time.

[DracoM]

The Lindsays every time for me. Grandeur, exquisite playing, and gutsy drive.

[euthynicus]

A bizarre choice, and a somewhat careless BaL, with a lot of telling and not enough showing. He used 'sentimental' throughout as a dirty word, when sentiment is exactly what is needed in playing Schubert. Given how scrappy that Amadeus recording is, I thought it betrayed a degree of false sentiment on MD's part to choose it. Didn't the Belceas sound terrific?

[Barbirollians]

A bizarre choice, and a somewhat careless BaL, with a lot of telling and not enough showing. He used 'sentimental' throughout as a dirty word, when sentiment is exactly what is needed in playing Schubert. Given how scrappy that Amadeus recording is, I thought it betrayed a degree of false sentiment on MD's part to choose it. Didn't the Belceas sound terrific?

The Amadeus - about the last I would choose ! Probably the most overrated quartet in history .

[DracoM]

ON what we heard, and their recent R3 concerts. the Belcea sound athletic, intelligent and smack on their game. Agreed.

And MD's choices were maybe just a bit predictable and 'safe pair of hands choices that won't get me into trouble'?

But The Lindsays have the kind of guts I like in my Schubert.

[makropulos]

The Amadeus - about the last I would choose ! Probably the most overrated quartet in history .

Alas, my experiences of hearing them live and on record is the same as yours...I never really "got" the Amadeus.

I love the Belcea performance - apart from one or two vintage versions (notably the original Juilliard record) and the Mosaiques for a terrific HIP view, it's probably my favourite.

[Barbirollians]

How did the Quartetto Italiano get on ? Were they even mentioned ?