Elias String Quartet - Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 (2015) 2 CDs
Elias String Quartet - Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 (2015)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 484 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 262 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Wigmore Hall Live | # WHL0073/2 | Time: 01:53:30
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 484 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 262 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Wigmore Hall Live | # WHL0073/2 | Time: 01:53:30
At the heart of Beethoven’s life’s statement as a composer lies the cycle of sixteen string quartets, which, to this day, has retained a special status and reverence. Since 2012, the Elias String Quartet has been immersed in its Beethoven Project, performing all Beethoven’s string quartets at venues throughout the UK. In this live recording, the ensemble captures both the intimacy and grandeur of the works. With an ever-expanding recording catalogue that has been met with widespread critical acclaim, the quartet is delighted to release this disc, the first volume of its complete Beethoven cycle to be recorded live at Wigmore Hall over the coming Seasons.
Elias String Quartet - Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 (2015) 2 CDs
For all the boldness of both the dots and their execution, the Elias Quartet observe a certain Classical propriety which does not domesticate Beethoven’s more feral inspirations but places his innovation in its proper context. Done with light hands, the Trio of Op 18 No 4 has an easy-going charm that serves to accentuate the otherwise dominant key of fierce tension. Nowhere do the Elias push the tempo to unreasonable extremes; rather tone-colour is an important and individual means of expression, including pure tone and sul ponticello in the spectral Presto of Op 130 and a keening portamento that would not feel out of place in Bartók or Ligeti and yet here gropes for tonal certainty in the dark introduction to Op 74, before the sun comes out in the Allegro and its famous ‘harp’ countermelody, which has rarely deserved the nickname less: no pretty imitation here. Still the steep and rugged passage through the development doesn’t thicken the body of their sound, which remains as distinctively slim and lithe as it was on their superb debut CD of Mendelssohn (10/09).
Those recordings were led from the front with unstinting courage by Sara Bitlloch, and I hear that quality in the slow movements especially of Op 74 and Op 130: how unafraid she is of the melodic snowline, how securely her colleagues are roped behind her. And if the Grosse Fuge is patched from this single performance, it isn’t obvious: either way it’s an astonishing achievement, to make the piece feel for once like a plausible finale and not a monolith, by giving each gesture the rhetorical space of a Bruckner finale and not grinding every dissonance into your ear. Lengthy applause is retained and deserved.Review by Peter Quantrill, Gramophone
This is a very easy recording to review: it can be done in one paragraph. The young Elias Quartet, former BBC New Generation artists, offer a splendid introduction to the three periods into which Beethoven’s string quartets are usually divided in a well-recorded live concert from the Wigmore Hall. I’m already looking forward to the next instalment, recorded the following May, which Claire Seymour reviewed for our associated site Seen and Heard International.
To clinch the matter, my wife has asked me several times to put these CDs on. I’m also planning to seek out their two earlier Wigmore Hall recordings: WHLIVE0028 (Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert) and WHLIVE0051 (Grant, Haydn and Schubert). They and the new recording can be streamed or sampled from Qobuz.
By giving us these three quartets in one session and in such fine performances the Elias Quartet demonstrate both the length of the journey from Op.18 to the late quartets and the extent to which the end of that journey was already inherent in its beginning. By 1799 Beethoven was beginning to shake off the debt to Haydn and Mozart, though their output still provided the foundation for his music. It’s lucky that he was such an awkward customer that he soon mistook the mild-mannered Haydn’s advice for jealousy and branched out on his own, later claiming, perversely, that he had learned more from Salieri – a much more influential figure than you would guess from Amadeus – than from Haydn. The Elias Quartet don’t over-emphasise either the Mozart/Haydn debt or the foretaste of the late quartets, though both are apparent from their strong performance.
At the other end of the time-scale they give us as powerful a performance of Op.130 as I’ve ever heard, with its original ending, later hived off as the Grosse Fuge. All the strength of the music is here – the Fuge as impressive as even in Klemperer’s orchestral transcription – without under-playing the beauty of this late work. What so puzzled his first hearers was the rapid transition from a beautiful tune, too soon thrown away, to what must have sounded as strange as later generations would find the Rite of Spring or Schoenberg’s String Quartets.
I rate this performance of Op.130 on a par with the best, chief among them the Takács Quartet (Quartets 11-16 and Grosse Fuge, Decca 4708492, 3 CDs). The only reservation that I have for repeated listening is that studio recordings such as the Takács give us the opportunity to choose either the Grosse Fuge or the substituted shorter allegro last movement. That would not have been possible in a concert, but there is room on the second CD for the quartet to have recorded the shorter finale separately.
The middle-period quartets sometimes get neglected but they, too, drew their share of audience bewilderment in their day. As with Op.18/4, the Elias players tread a secure middle path between the conventional and the unconventional aspects of the Harp Quartet.
Well-deserved and fairly extended applause is retained at the end of the each of the three quartets. It’s not separately tracked, which I know that some listeners will find a problem.
The recording is very good and Daniel Tong’s notes – from the Wigmore Hall programme, I presume – are informative.
There’s no need to pad out this review: this is my second Recording of the Month in a few days and, as usual, short and sweet means that I very much approve. I will, however, repeat myself and say how much I’m looking forward to Volume 2.Review by Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International
Elias String Quartet - Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 (2015) 2 CDs
Elias String Quartet - Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 (2015) 2 CDs
Tracklist:
CD1:
String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4
01. I. Allegro ma non tanto (09:09)
02. II. Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto (07:18)
03. III. Menuetto: Allegro (03:34)
04. IV. Allegretto – Prestissimo (05:37)
String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’
05. I. Poco adagio – Allegro (10:08)
06. II. Adagio ma non troppo (10:51)
07. III. Presto – (05:10)
08. IV. Allegretto con variazioni (07:53)
CD2:
String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130
01. I. Adagio, ma non troppo – Allegro (15:00)
02. II. Presto (02:13)
03. III. Andante con moto ma non troppo (07:17)
04. IV. Alla danza tedesca: Allegro assai (03:20)
05. V. Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo (08:30)
06. VI. Overtura: Allegro – Fuga (Grosse Fuge, Op.133) (17:23)
Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015
EAC extraction logfile from 20. November 2015, 8:48
Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD1
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GU70N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 9:09.56 | 0 | 41230
2 | 9:09.56 | 7:18.64 | 41231 | 74144
3 | 16:28.45 | 3:34.54 | 74145 | 90248
4 | 20:03.24 | 5:37.27 | 90249 | 115550
5 | 25:40.51 | 10:08.25 | 115551 | 161175
6 | 35:49.01 | 10:51.54 | 161176 | 210054
7 | 46:40.55 | 5:10.33 | 210055 | 233337
8 | 51:51.13 | 7:53.38 | 233338 | 268850
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\temp\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - Elias String Quartet\CD1\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD1.wav
Peak level 93.7 %
Extraction speed 2.1 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 53198241
Copy CRC 53198241
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [BB880FED] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [6887F9CA] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [E60EC451] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [7B16A5BD] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [134B8A09] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [9246D691] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [F1E8EB74] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [BAA67C1C] (AR v2)
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
==== Log checksum F0D4E8CF1C9B2A4646E3AEB3CD867F30E1984AE2B2CBC3B4E00D695BB6BD9A4D ====
EAC extraction logfile from 20. November 2015, 8:48
Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD1
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GU70N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 9:09.56 | 0 | 41230
2 | 9:09.56 | 7:18.64 | 41231 | 74144
3 | 16:28.45 | 3:34.54 | 74145 | 90248
4 | 20:03.24 | 5:37.27 | 90249 | 115550
5 | 25:40.51 | 10:08.25 | 115551 | 161175
6 | 35:49.01 | 10:51.54 | 161176 | 210054
7 | 46:40.55 | 5:10.33 | 210055 | 233337
8 | 51:51.13 | 7:53.38 | 233338 | 268850
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\temp\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - Elias String Quartet\CD1\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD1.wav
Peak level 93.7 %
Extraction speed 2.1 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 53198241
Copy CRC 53198241
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [BB880FED] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [6887F9CA] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [E60EC451] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [7B16A5BD] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [134B8A09] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [9246D691] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [F1E8EB74] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [BAA67C1C] (AR v2)
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
==== Log checksum F0D4E8CF1C9B2A4646E3AEB3CD867F30E1984AE2B2CBC3B4E00D695BB6BD9A4D ====
foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-12-06 16:04:35
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD1
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 -0.89 dB -21.29 dB 9:10 01-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - I. Allegro ma non tanto
DR16 -5.15 dB -26.70 dB 7:19 02-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - II. Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
DR14 -3.03 dB -21.79 dB 3:35 03-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - III. Menuetto: Allegro
DR14 -3.02 dB -21.66 dB 5:37 04-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - IV. Allegretto – Prestissimo
DR16 -1.02 dB -22.56 dB 10:08 05-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - I. Poco adagio – Allegro
DR14 -5.14 dB -25.56 dB 10:52 06-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - II. Adagio ma non troppo
DR14 -0.56 dB -20.76 dB 5:10 07-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - III. Presto –
DR15 -1.46 dB -21.81 dB 7:54 08-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - IV. Allegretto con variazioni
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 8
Official DR value: DR14
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 589 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
log date: 2016-12-06 16:04:35
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD1
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 -0.89 dB -21.29 dB 9:10 01-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - I. Allegro ma non tanto
DR16 -5.15 dB -26.70 dB 7:19 02-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - II. Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
DR14 -3.03 dB -21.79 dB 3:35 03-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - III. Menuetto: Allegro
DR14 -3.02 dB -21.66 dB 5:37 04-String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 - IV. Allegretto – Prestissimo
DR16 -1.02 dB -22.56 dB 10:08 05-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - I. Poco adagio – Allegro
DR14 -5.14 dB -25.56 dB 10:52 06-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - II. Adagio ma non troppo
DR14 -0.56 dB -20.76 dB 5:10 07-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - III. Presto –
DR15 -1.46 dB -21.81 dB 7:54 08-String Quartet in E major, Op.74 ‘Harp’ - IV. Allegretto con variazioni
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 8
Official DR value: DR14
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 589 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015
EAC extraction logfile from 20. November 2015, 21:42
Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD2
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GU70N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 15:00.21 | 0 | 67520
2 | 15:00.21 | 2:13.06 | 67521 | 77501
3 | 17:13.27 | 7:17.57 | 77502 | 110333
4 | 24:31.09 | 3:20.27 | 110334 | 125360
5 | 27:51.36 | 8:30.00 | 125361 | 163610
6 | 36:21.36 | 17:23.70 | 163611 | 241905
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\temp\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - Elias String Quartet\CD2\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD2.wav
Peak level 90.9 %
Extraction speed 2.0 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC A0B4F9FF
Copy CRC A0B4F9FF
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [91D22A7B] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [EDB56463] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [B454B369] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [3C58EF36] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [5B41F1BE] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [A0446428] (AR v2)
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
==== Log checksum 77ADC4B3599D2F43AA4866DC3F83A5AFB337AB817883C7AAA9BCD0749CE61A6A ====
EAC extraction logfile from 20. November 2015, 21:42
Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD2
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GU70N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 15:00.21 | 0 | 67520
2 | 15:00.21 | 2:13.06 | 67521 | 77501
3 | 17:13.27 | 7:17.57 | 77502 | 110333
4 | 24:31.09 | 3:20.27 | 110334 | 125360
5 | 27:51.36 | 8:30.00 | 125361 | 163610
6 | 36:21.36 | 17:23.70 | 163611 | 241905
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\temp\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - Elias String Quartet\CD2\Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD2.wav
Peak level 90.9 %
Extraction speed 2.0 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC A0B4F9FF
Copy CRC A0B4F9FF
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [91D22A7B] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [EDB56463] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [B454B369] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [3C58EF36] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [5B41F1BE] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 2) [A0446428] (AR v2)
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
==== Log checksum 77ADC4B3599D2F43AA4866DC3F83A5AFB337AB817883C7AAA9BCD0749CE61A6A ====
foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-12-06 16:04:55
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD2
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR15 -0.82 dB -22.24 dB 15:00 01-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - I. Adagio, ma non troppo – Allegro
DR13 -3.16 dB -22.63 dB 2:13 02-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - II. Presto
DR15 -4.27 dB -24.50 dB 7:18 03-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - III. Andante con moto ma non troppo
DR13 -4.74 dB -24.30 dB 3:20 04-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - IV. Alla danza tedesca: Allegro assai
DR14 -7.69 dB -29.25 dB 8:30 05-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - V. Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo
DR14 -0.89 dB -19.08 dB 17:24 06-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - VI. Overtura: Allegro – Fuga (Grosse Fuge, Op.133)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 6
Official DR value: DR14
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 599 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
log date: 2016-12-06 16:04:55
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Elias String Quartet / Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 - CD2
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR15 -0.82 dB -22.24 dB 15:00 01-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - I. Adagio, ma non troppo – Allegro
DR13 -3.16 dB -22.63 dB 2:13 02-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - II. Presto
DR15 -4.27 dB -24.50 dB 7:18 03-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - III. Andante con moto ma non troppo
DR13 -4.74 dB -24.30 dB 3:20 04-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - IV. Alla danza tedesca: Allegro assai
DR14 -7.69 dB -29.25 dB 8:30 05-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - V. Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo
DR14 -0.89 dB -19.08 dB 17:24 06-String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130 - VI. Overtura: Allegro – Fuga (Grosse Fuge, Op.133)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 6
Official DR value: DR14
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 599 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
Elias String Quartet - Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol.1 (2015) 2 CDs
