Does anyone like Schubert's big G major quartet (D887) with the repeats?

[Mandryka]

I just can't enjoy this. But if you do, which performance helped you to enjoy? What's wrong with me?

I can listen to Schubert's big D840 piano sonata. I can listen to the 9th symphony even.  And Winterreise.

I mean, I can listen to Feldman.

[Jo498]

I don't think it's "worse" than slowish performances of the quintet, or the sonatas D 894 or 960 with repeat. All of them get a bit too long but the quartet is not the "worst" case for me. I also think the original? reconstructed almost 20 min finale of the E flat major trio is too long.

Just listen to fast performances without repeat. The Busch and Budapest both get in under 13:30.

[Maestro267]

I love it! Heavenly length, as Schumann aptly described late Schubert as. Makes the 15th Quartet one of the Twin Peaks of the string quartet repertoire along with the similarly-length Beethoven Quartet 13 (w/Grosse Fuge as sixth movement finale)

[Mandryka]

Just listen to fast performances without repeat. The Busch and Budapest both get in under 13:30.

That's cheating.

[Mandryka]

I admit I'm a Hagen fan - this D887 is impeccable and one thing I learned from it is that if you're going to make sense of that first movement with repeats you need to be real masters at dynamic control. Hagen are as usual impeccable - tight incisive rhythms as well as really hushed quiet passages. 20.46 in the first movement.

[Daverz]

Most recordings seem to skip the repeat and bring the first movement in at about 14-16 minutes. 

The Hungarian Quartet in the EMI Schubert Edition box brings it in at 12:53. 

The repeat takers seem to be younger modern quartets like the Diogenes, Doric and Stradavari Quartets.

[Mandryka]

The repeat takers seem to be younger modern quartets like the Diogenes, Doric and Stradavari Quartets.

Kolich, Melos and Italiano took the first movement repeats, as did the Lindsays.

[AnotherSpin]

Fitzwilliam Quartet performs the first movement in 22:35.

[Todd]

D887 is Schubert's supreme chamber music masterpiece.  I have adored it since the first time I heard it.  Most versions I've heard include the repeat.  Something critical seems missing if there is no repeat, just like with the first movement of D960.  The opening movement can sound too slow and too long, but that's down to ensemble (eg, the Aviv Quartet at ~24'.)

The best are the Czechs:

[Leo K.]

The Italiano account nails it for me.  The first movement repeat is essential in my opinion, but I can live with a good performance without it.

[Mandryka]

The Italiano account nails it for me.  The first movement repeat is essential in my opinion, but I can live with a good performance without it.

I like that one very much. I appreciate that it's not so aggressively and bombastically driving forward, that the contrasts are not symphonic and melodramatic, and especially that it seems to  capture a side of the music which has caught my imagination,  described here in a memorable phrase by Lukeottevanger in 2007: desperate beauty

I was going to recommend the Busch too, but I see I'm not the first!

Honestly, this is one of Schubert's most incredible works, and I don't think it has been served well in recordings. The first movement is so difficult for the first violin to play with the serene sublimity it deserves - those soaring triplets catch so many out; the last movement only reveals itself as the extraordinary ahead-of-its-time conception it is (rather than a fairly tedious jog-along in 6/8) in very rare performances. The Busch are the only Quartet I've heard manage it from start to finish (their inner movements are better than any others I've heard too), though I won't know as many recordings as many here will.

A memorable phrase I once read re. this work (the slow movement specifically): 'alarming beauty'. I think this is just right; I'd also modify it to 'desperate beauty' - clinging on to beauty right at the edge of the abyss. That's how this extraordinary piece strikes me, though I'm not trying to link this impression to its place in Schubert's biography.

I've got some others lined up - an unreleased concert from Diotima Quartet and Accardo Quartet. I've also ordered the recording Kremer made with his friends (Kashkashian et al.)

I've started to check out @Todd's suggestions, so thanks for that. So far I think that Panocha is rather interesting - Prazak is kind of what I'm not looking for really, not my cup of tea. Too strong, forceful.

[Luke]

Quoted for something I wrote 17 years ago! And it wasn't rubbish! That feels good! 

[Jo498]

The Kremer is the most "leaden" I have heard but I recall that I found it fascinating although I'd prefer a faster tempo.

I used to like the piece even more than the string quintet but I know think that the quintet is superior after the first movement, especially in mvmts. 3 and 4. The "tarantella of death" finale works IMO better in the d minor quartet.
Nevertheless, it's still my next favorite instrumental Schubert piece and I prefer it to the d minor qt, the C major symphony, the trios and the late piano sonatas.

[Mandryka]

Well, I've found one which I think is very special - Belcea. There's a fragility, vulnerability, about it which I find touching. Maybe it's kind of tortured Brit mode in a string quartet.

The Kremer is the most "leaden" I have heard but I recall that I found it fascinating although I'd prefer a faster tempo.

Excellent. I was hoping for exactly that after their DSCH 15.

[AnotherSpin]

Quoted for something I wrote 17 years ago! And it wasn't rubbish! That feels good! 

clinging on to beauty right at the edge of the abyss -- that's what we're doing here.

[Mandryka]

Well, I've found one which I think is very special - Belcea. There's a fragility, vulnerability, about it which I find touching. Maybe it's kind of tortured Brit mode in a string quartet.

And Belcea sounds amazing to me this morning too - that's twice, so it's now  great, objectively speaking.

[DavidW]

I plan on listening to Prazak this afternoon which should be in my big box.

[vers la flamme]

The real question is does anyone like Dvořák's big 3rd quartet in D major? I haven't heard it.

[Luke]

The real question is does anyone like Dvořák's big 3rd quartet in D major? I haven't heard it.

How strange - I put it in the CD drawer about an hour ago ready to play later. I'll report back...

[vers la flamme]

How strange - I put it in the CD drawer about an hour ago ready to play later. I'll report back...

Do report back. I don't have a copy of it. But I'm going to listen to the G major Schubert Quartet shortly, as I can't remember what I think of it.