Topic: Favourite recordings of Mozart’s Viennese Quartets K168 - K173

[Mandryka]

I’m enjoying listening to these with Hagen, but I’d like to hear what other quartets have made of them.


I’m not sure Mozart has found his own voice, the debt to Haydn seems clear, but nevertheless the music is not totally without interest.

[amw]

Try the Leipziger Streichquartett or Cuarteto Casals if you can get hold of either. I think I like the latter best, but it's been a while.

[Jo498]

I have only the Hagen which I like well enough not to bother with another one.
Years ago I was tempted by a box of the Suske quartet that included these 6 together with the "late" 10 but I missed the point when it was cheap/available. I should re-listen to these pieces as I listened to the quintet  K 174 recently and I always liked that one quite a bit.

[Spotted Horses]

Quartetto Italiano brings a pleasant warmth to these unassuming works, as I recall. I haven't listened in decades.

[DavidW]

I like the Talich Quartet, but I think their early Mozart is only available in the big box.

[Jo498]

The Talich were in fact at some stage available outside that box although nowadays that's probably the easiest option. The early 13 quartets with the Hagen was in a separate 3 disc box around the anniversary 1991 but again, it's probably easier to get the more recent box of the whole lot. I don't think the Amadeus and Italiano early quartets were ever in separate discs/boxes in the CD age.



ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01K8LZ582
(There is another disc with the missing quartet K 173 and others)

[Florestan]

My current go-to set for any of the quartets is this sleeper:



Speaking of early, any love for Mozart's Italian Quartets (Lodi and Milanese)?

[Todd]

I rarely listen to Mozart's string quartets, and then typically it is later works.  For the earlier works, the Talich would probably be my go-to, though the cheap complete cycles from the Barchet String Quartet and the American String Quartet offer a different take.  I will be giving all of the Armida Quartet's recordings a go at some point.

[Jo498]

I listen to Mozart's last 10 quartets (or at least to some of them) reasonably frequently but I have probably not heard the early pieces more than three times within almost 20 years (I remember that I sold the older box with the early pieces when I got the complete Hagen set and this must have been around 2006) and it's been a long time ago. The Viennese set is considerably closer to what we take as "standard" classical string quartet than the 7 earlier "Italian" works.

[Mandryka]

I’m afraid I don’t have a very favourable opinion of Talich in these quartets, they sound bored and lifeless. One down.

[Mandryka]

Quartetto Italiano brings a pleasant warmth to these unassuming works, as I recall. I haven't listened in decades.

I’m using k 169/I as a test piece. Italiano are totally alive, engaged, vigorous. So are Amadeus. Both are promising. But the most interesting one, old fashioned but interesting, is The New Gabrieli Quartet on Meridian. The sound is part of the reason, it’s as if the recording makes clear the layers of sound - can’t express it better than that, you’ll have to listen (and then you may hate it of course!) But I shall defo be exploring New Gabrieli some more.

[Gurn Blanston]

I have 2 full sets of these: The Talich on modern instruments and the Festetics on period. I also have K 155-160 done by the Barchet Quartet on modern instruments. For those 6 works, I prefer the Barchet's over the Talich, their playing is on a grand scale which I usually don't care for in early Mozart but which works well here.

I am a big fan of the Festetics, and I prefer their recording in these works, but they were quite young when they did these and I think their playing got better with age. Still, these are very acceptable realizations.

[Mandryka]

My current go-to set for any of the quartets is this sleeper:



Speaking of early, any love for Mozart's Italian Quartets (Lodi and Milanese)?

There's a bit of magic about K80 -- though I think half the reason it sounds good is because of Cuarteto Casals' evident sympathy for it.

[Mandryka]

Try the Leipziger Streichquartett or Cuarteto Casals if you can get hold of either. I think I like the latter best, but it's been a while.

Casals are good here I think.

[Mandryka]

I rarely listen to Mozart's string quartets, and then typically it is later works.

Listening to them has made me see more clearly what a huge increase in complexity there is in the Mozart/Haydn.

[Mandryka]

K173 is interesting.

[Mandryka]

Speaking of early, any love for Mozart's Italian Quartets (Lodi and Milanese)?

This has got your name written all over it.

[Florestan]

This has got your name written all over it.

Thanks for the tip.

[Mandryka]

Thanks for the tip.

It's just an amazing piece of music, KV 80. Where the fuck did he get that tune from? He must have had that sort of thing just going round his head!  I think I want it played at my funeral. This is a better transfer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ItqEQyw3oE&ab_channel=JanacekQuartet-Topic