The ONE Beethoven String Quartet Cycle to Rule Them All!

[mn dave]

Not to rub it in Dave, but shouldn't Talich be bumped down in the list, as it now only has one vote?

Yah.

Vegh - stereo 3
Alexander 2
Gewandhaus 2
Suske 2
Talich 1
Budapest 51-52 1
Italiano 1
Emerson 1
Hungarian 1
Belcea 1
Alban Berg (EMI, studio) 1
Pražák 1

[mn dave]

I am afraid I got onto Dave's "traitors list"...

[Ken B]

Yah.

Vegh - stereo 3
Alexander 2
Gewandhaus 2
Suske 2
Talich 1
Budapest 51-52 1
Italiano 1
Emerson 1
Hungarian 1
Belcea 1
Alban Berg (EMI, studio) 1
Pražák 1

Shouldn't this be alphabetical? Shouldn't Talich come last?

[mn dave]

Shouldn't this be alphabetical? Shouldn't Talich come last?

[Ken B]

All is not lost. Someone might vote for the Zemlinsky.

[springrite]

I have to give the Gewandhaus another run. I remember being bored to tears the first time around.

[Ken B]

I have to give the Gewandhaus another run. I remember being bored to tears the first time around.

There's a fee after the second vote switch you know. 

[kishnevi]

Takacs

[Daverz]

No love for the Tokyo on RCA?  Not a vote for them; I haven't made it thru the box yet, but what I've heard is beautiful.

[asin]B008BOWG7C[/asin]

My goto set is the Juilliard 60s box that was issued by Sony France.

[kishnevi]

No love for the Tokyo on RCA?  Not a vote for them; I haven't made it thru the box yet, but what I've heard is beautiful.

[asin]B008BOWG7C[/asin]

My goto set is the Juilliard 60s box that was issued by Sony France.

My own impression is that it's like several others I have, including the Guarnieri, Alban Berg,  and Hungarian:  as good as anyone else,  but not perceptibly better.

One cycle that might deserve more consideration is the Artemis Quartet.   Having voted for Takacs,  I would place them second or third--depending on how I felt at the moment about Quarteto Italiano

[aquablob]

Haven't heard enough complete sets to pick one here.

[mn dave]

Vegh - stereo 3
Alexander 2
Gewandhaus 2
Suske 2
Talich 1
Budapest 51-52 1
Italiano 1
Emerson 1
Hungarian 1
Belcea 1
Alban Berg (EMI, studio) 1
Pražák 1
Takacs 1
Julliard 60s 1

[Karl Henning]

This is one severely Balkanized poll!

[springrite]

This is one severely Balkanized poll!

No kidding!

[amw]

My goto set is the Juilliard 60s box that was issued by Sony France.

I'd quite like to hear this, but it's proven impossible to find so far (for less than several hundred dollars anyway)

[Sergeant Rock]

One cycle that might deserve more consideration is the Artemis Quartet. I would place them second or third...

Acting as the absent Scarpia's proxy, I nominate the Artemis. Make it so, Dave.

As for my own vote, I'm still deciding. I've spent the last few days refreshing my memory of various quartets. I'm surprised how much I've enjoyed the Emerson (their op.135 has always been my top choice but I seem to have paid less attention to other equally fine performances in their cycle). My vote will go to the Emerson or the very different Gewandhaus. Stand by.

Sarge

[mn dave]

Acting as the absent Scarpia's proxy, I nominate the Artemis. Make it so, Dave.

Mmm...no.

[Sergeant Rock]

Mmm...no.

Sarge

[springrite]

Mmm...no.

How about as proxy Iago? 

[Jay F]

I'm surprised how much I've enjoyed the Emerson (their op.135 has always been my top choice but I seem to have paid less attention to other equally fine performances in their cycle). My vote will go to the Emerson or the very different Gewandhaus. Stand by.

Sarge

I ignored the Emerson Beethoven for years on account of its many bad reviews. My favorites had always been the Takacs and, before them, the first Lindsays. But I let someone take the Lindsays home one night, and I didn't get them back before I moved. I only played the Takacs a little, though I was impressed with the sound quality. And then last year, I bought a Trio box set of the Emersons' Schubert and loved it. So I tried their Beethoven. The clarity of sound made me play it a lot. It was really all I listened to for a month or so last year. If I had to choose just one, this would be it (I am the lone vote for the Emersons in this poll).