Quatuor Vegh - Beethoven - Complete String Quartets (8CD) (1987)

These sterling performances have been high among the prime available Beethoven Quartet sets since their initial appearance in the early 1970s as sought-after Telefunken LPs. Naïve’s booklet and transfers are the same as those of the 1987 Auvidis Valois set. So what’s this release got that the previous one didn’t? A bargain price, with the eight CDs marked down to the price of four. These are happy days for Beethoven Quartet lovers: my three favorite complete sets (the others are the Quartetto Italiano on Philips and the Talich on Calliope) are all now available at midprice. All share a concern for mining the music’s profundities even if it sometimes means limiting drive and excitement. The Italiano is the best blended and technically secure; the Talich runs them close but tends to stodginess in the Op. 18; and the Végh is as insightful as the Italiano but sometimes the violins tend to hardness. First violinist Sandor Végh’s occasional intonation lapses are easily forgivable given his elegant phrasing and stylistic perfection. His dominant role is obvious, but the group is very much in the central European tradition, with tonal balances built from the ground up, with the cello prominent. The Végh has a knack for finding just the right tempo for any given movement, and the four players sniff out the humor in these works as unerringly as they dig deepest into the slow movements. The sound is closeup, detailed and impactful, but excessively bright on top at times. There’s more to these masterpieces than any single ensemble, no matter how good, can reveal. So while I could live with any of the three sets cited above, I live much happier with all of them–supplemented with versions by the old Budapest and the newer, exciting Emerson Quartet. Nor would I want to be without the Hollywood and Busch Quartets for the late works. But whatever equation you set for Beethoven sets, the Végh belongs in the mix. -- Dan Davis