Album

While not the first complete recorded cycle of the Beethoven String Quartets, the Amadeus Quartet's late-'50s early-'60s set of the complete Beethoven quartets may be the first great recorded cycle. The Amadeus Quartet was a part-Austrian, part-English ensemble that fused elegance and intelligence and expressivity with virtuosity to create a style of quartet playing wholly suited to the Viennese classics from Mozart through Brahms but which fit Beethoven like a hand-tailored suit. While other ensembles had recorded the Beethoven quartets before the Amadeus, none of those performances had the clarity and lucidity the Amadeus brought to them. Forty years later, the Amadeus' Op. 18 Quartets are still among the best ever recorded: graceful and gracious, witty and intelligent, polished and expressive, the Amadeus' performances embody all that is best in the "early" quartets. The Amadeus' Op. 59 is nearly as great: its complete control of tempo and texture clarifies the thematic and harmonic structures of the quartets and only in the most strenuous passages and deepest movements does the Amadeus seem ever so slightly out of its depths. Similarly, its Op. 74 is one of the most beautiful and expressive ever recorded, but it cannot quite express the unfettered fury of the Quartet Op. 95. Only in the "late" quartets does the Amadeus sound not entirely up to the challenge of Beethoven's music. While it plays it all superbly, there are times when it seems unable to get beneath the surface of the music to the spiritual depths below and one is left with the impression of great things left unsaid. For all the clarity and lucidity of the Amadeus' performance, there is a sense that it cannot quite face the ultimate profundities of late Beethoven.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 7
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.1 in F, Op.18, No.1 Work Recorded 1961 24:23 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
1	1.Allegro con brio	7:01			$1.49
2	2.Adagio affettuoso e appassionato	8:32			$1.49
3	3.Scherzo; 4.Allegro	3:10			$0.99
4	4.Allegro	5:40			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.2 in G, Op.18, No.2 Work Recorded 1961 21:56 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
5	1.Allegro	5:44			$0.99
6	2.Adagio cantabile	6:17			$0.99
7	3.Scherzo; 4.Allegro molto quasi presto	4:18			$0.99
8	4.Allegro molto quasi presto	5:37			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.3 in D, Op.18, No.3 Work Recorded 1961 21:40 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
9	1.Allegro	5:43			$0.99
10	2.Andante con moto	7:58			$1.49
11	3.Allegro	3:08			$0.99
12	4.Presto	4:51			$0.99
CD 2 of 7
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.4 in C-, Op.18, No.4 Work Recorded 1961 20:13 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
1	1.Allegro ma non tanto	6:35			$0.99
2	2.Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto	5:37			$0.99
3	3.Menuetto: Allegretto	3:45			$0.99
4	4.Allegro	4:16			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.5 in A, Op.18, No.5 Work Recorded 1961 24:56 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
5	1.Allegro	4:49			$0.99
6	2.Menuetto	4:54			$0.99
7	3.Andante cantabile (Theme and Variations)	10:15			$1.99
8	4.Allegro	4:58			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.6 in Bb, Op.18, No.6 Work Recorded 1961 24:03 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
9	1.Allegro con brio	4:28			$0.99
10	2.Adagio ma non troppo	7:36			$1.49
11	3.Scherzo	3:23			$0.99
12	4.La Malinconia: Adagio. Allegretto quasi allegro	8:36			$1.49
CD 3 of 7
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.7 in F, Op.59, No.1 ('Rasumovsky' 1) Work Recorded 1959 37:14 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
1	1.Allegro	10:01			$1.99
2	2.Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando	8:28			$1.49
3	3.Adagio molto e mesto	12:08			$1.99
4	4.Thème russe: Allegro	6:37			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.8 in E-, Op.59, No.2 ('Rasumovsky' 2) Work Recorded 1959 32:28 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
5	1.Allegro	8:22			$1.49
6	2.Molto adagio (Si tratta questo pezzo con molto di sentimento)	11:35			$1.99
7	3.Allegretto maggiore ('Thème russe')	7:07			$1.49
8	4.Finale: Presto	5:24			$0.99
CD 4 of 7
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.9 in C, Op.59, No.3 ('Rasumovsky' 3) Work Recorded 1959 28:19 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
1	1.Introduzione: Andante con moto. Allegro vivace	8:13			$1.49
2	2.Andante con moto quasi allegretto	9:23			$1.49
3	3.Menuetto grazioso	4:41			$0.99
4	4.Finale: Allegro molto	6:02			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.10 in Eb, Op.74 ('Harp') Work Recorded 1960 30:59 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
5	1.Poco adagio. Allegro	8:34			$1.49
6	2.Adagio ma non troppo	10:05			$1.99
7	3.Presto	5:23			$0.99
8	4.Allegretto con variazioni	6:57			$0.99
CD 5 of 7
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.11 in F-, Op.95 ('Serioso') Work Recorded 1960 20:40 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
1	1.Allegro con brio	4:47			$0.99
2	2.Allegretto ma non troppo	6:53			$0.99
3	3.Allegro assai vivace ma serioso	4:20			$0.99
4	4.Larghetto espressivo. Allegretto agitato	4:40			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.12 in Eb, Op.127 Work Recorded 1963 36:31 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
5	1.Maestoso. Allegro	6:51			$0.99
6	2.Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile	15:09			$2.49
7	3.Scherzando vivace	8:04			$1.49
8	4.Finale: Allegro	6:27			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Grosse Fuge for String Quartet in Bb, Op.133 Work Recorded 1962 15:20 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
9	Part 1	4:40			$0.99
10	Part 2	2:54			$0.99
11	Part 3	3:29			$0.99
12	Part 4	1:01			$0.49
13	Part 5	1:50			$0.49
14	Part 6	1:26			$0.49
CD 6 of 7
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.13 in Bb, Op.130 ('Lieb') Work Recorded 1962 33:09 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
1	1.Adagio ma non troppo. Allegro	8:30			$1.49
2	2.Presto	1:54			$0.49
3	3.Andante con moto ma non troppo	6:07			$0.99
4	4.Alla danza tedesca: Allegro assai	2:40			$0.99
5	5.Cavatina: Adagio molto espressivo	6:32			$0.99
6	6.Finale: Allegro	7:26			$1.49
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.14 in C#-, Op.131 Work Recorded 1963 39:14 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
7	1.Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo	6:57			$0.99
8	2.Allegro molto vivace	3:05			$0.99
9	3.Allegro moderato	0:55			$0.49
10	4.Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile	14:17			$2.49
11	5.Presto	5:27			$0.99
12	6.Adagio quasi un poco andante	2:04			$0.99
13	7.Allegro	6:29			$0.99
CD 7 of 7
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.15 in A-, Op.132 ('Heiliger Dankgesang') Work Recorded 1962 42:46 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
1	1.Assai sostenuto. Allegro	10:25			$1.99
2	2.Allegro ma non tanto	7:41			$1.49
3	3.Molto adagio ('Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Ton')	15:57			$2.49
4	4.Alla marcia, assai vivace	2:16			$0.99
5	5.Allegro appassionato	6:27			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer String Quartet No.16 in F, Op.135 Work Recorded 1963 25:16 Amadeus Quartet String Quartet
6	1.Allegretto	6:42			$0.99
7	2.Vivace	3:23			$0.99
8	3.Lento assai e cantante tranquillo	8:09			$1.49
9	4.Der schwer gefasste Entschluß: Grave ma non troppo tratto. Allegro	7:02			$1.49