Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart :: Mozart: The String Quartets [Box Set]

Beautifully played masterpieces

Stan J. VanSandt | Austin TX USA | 02/09/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't imagine why the other reviewer pronounced the first violin harsh: I suggest he cut the treble on his amplifier by a notch or two and listen again. It is true that Lukas Hagen frequently plays with little vibrato, as do the rest of the group, but the intonation is always spot on to my ear, and I find the group's collective timbre pleasing, even beautiful. They also phrase beautifully, communicate the musical structure well, and play every piece as if it were a great masterpiece (unlike many groups who record complete sets). And that is important here because, unlike Mozart's early symphonies or violin sonatas, his first thirteen quartets are wonderful, fully realized masterpieces (a few underdeveloped last movements notwithstanding). If you only know his more famous later quartets, you will be very happy to make the acquaintance of the rest of this box set. In the later quartets there are sometimes other groups that I prefer -- the Italiano in K. 499, the Alban Berg in some of the Prussian quartets, etc. -- but none of the Hagen's are less than fully committed, and all of them are enjoyable. Highly recommended."