Review by JJ November 15, 2008 (4 of 7 found this review helpful)
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As a first step of many leading to the modernity of the string quartet, Beethoven’s Opus 18 was first approached with caution, as Bernard Fournier remarks in his remarkable work on the History of the String Quartet: “Several times the young Beethoven was about to set about writing quartets, but each time something stopped and dissuaded him, as if he had the impression he had to broaden his musical experience, acquire greater writing mastery before attempting this adventure he no doubt judged perilous. Was it deliberate? Was it instinctive? Everything seems to indicate that he felt the need to prepare himself intellectually and spiritually.” We know the result, and in concluding the six quartets of this corpus, Beethoven seems to have come to terms with Haydn’s and Mozart’s heritage. Illuminated by elegance, this remarkable pure DSD recording provides an ideal audiophile medium for the Bonn master’s opus 18. First off, elegance of style wherein the Fine Arts Quartet’s mastery gives the music an élan of rare pertinence. Elegance of discourse too, wherein each phrase seems weightless, floating above the notes. Finally, elegance of expression, wherein we rediscover with clarity the interrogations of the composer racked with doubt but aware of the historic task he was accomplishing. Here then is a top-ranking triple SACD that is one of the great musical and audiophile experiences.
Jean-Jacques Millo Translation Lawrence Schulman
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