Beethoven: String Quartets 1 - Alban Berg Quartet
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alban Quartet Berg, BeethovenDVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Classical, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 187 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-24
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: EMI Classics
Movie Reviews of Beethoven: String Quartets 1 - Alban Berg Quartet
Movie Review: First Class Performance
Summary: 5 Stars
The Alban Berg Quartett always has been a very disciplined group and this cycle of the Beethoven quartets demonstrates ensemble playing of the very highest order - it just does not get any better. These are superb musical performances judged by almost any standard and for those wanting a video dimension in their quartets, these DVDs have to be the best available.
But, if I may digress for a moment; I have yet to be convinced that video enhances the level of enjoyment of this type of music. More often than not, I find it a distraction from the primary function of musical appreciation and this DVD set is a case in point. Camera work is moderately good and tolerably well directed relative to the score, although there are occasions where the musical focus might be on, say, the second violin but the camera is yet again absorbed with the unpleasant angularity of the Mozart-Saal organ case. There are too many of these instances which I find irritating and attention-diverting; ditto the ABQ's somewhat theatrical flourishes at the conclusion of a movement. And do we really need to see/hear the instruments being tuned before every movement? Once at the beginning of a work is sufficient.
As has been suggested elsewhere, these works may be experienced in sound only but that does seem a waste of the money paid for the video component.
On the positive side, the video can be helpful in identifying the inner parts with their respective instruments; useful in the absence of a score. However, for audio only (without the video distraction) I prefer to listen to a couple of other chamber groups who maintain a spontaneity and freshness which, in my view, seem in large measure to have been polished out by The Berg's striving for that homogeneity they so successfully have achieved. An example of this perceived "sterility" is the Heiliger Dankgesang from the A minor quartet, one of chamber music's most emotionally-charged passages but I think in this performance more than a little bland.
Regardless of my criticisms, these are absolutely first class technical performances and I recommend them. Incidentally, these comments are derived from watching/listening to all three volumes in this set; not just the volume being the subject of this review.
Summary of Beethoven: String Quartets 1 - Alban Berg Quartet
The String Quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven are considered to be the greatest and most powerful testaments to the chamber music genre. The Alban Berg Quartett had already made studio recordings of all the Beethoven quartets for EMI Classics when the players thought they should risk remaking the cycle live for both audio and video. Recorded at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, these 1989 readings represent the quartet at their best; they are more intense and spontaneous than the studio efforts, and convey the atmosphere of their concerts.Volume 1 is presented on two DVDs: DVD 1 - Op. 18, No. 4; Op. 131; Op. 18, No. 1. DVD 2 - Op. 18, No. 3; Op. 130; Op. 74.
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.0, DTS 5.0, LPCM 2.0.
Booklet: Electronic PDF booklet in English, French, German, Spanish.
Format: All discs are DVD9.
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