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String Quartets |  | Artists: Janacek, Guarneri Quartet
Label: Polygram Records
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy Used: $14.75
as of 9/8/2010 23:20 CDT details
You Save: $2.23 (13%)
New (6) Used (11) from $14.75
Seller: dgruth
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 235774
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 1.2
UPC: 028945657424
EAN: 0028945657424
ASIN: B00000HY88
Release Date: January 12, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | String Quartet No. 1: I. Adagio - Con moto - Guarneri Quartet | | • | String Quartet No. 1: II. Con moto | | • | String Quartet No. 1: III. Con moto - Vivace - Andante - Tempo 1 | | • | String Quartet No. 1: IV. Con moto | | • | String Quartet No. 2: I. Andante - Con moto - Allegro | | • | String Quartet No. 2: II. Adagio - Vivace - Andante - Presto - Allegro - Vivo - Adagio | | • | String Quartet No. 2: III. Moderato - Adagio - Allegro | | • | String Quartet No. 2: IV. Allegro - Andante - Con moto - Adagio - Tempo I |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Janácek's quartets are quite unlike most others written in the 20th century. The utter originality of his mature style (tiny rhythmic and melodic fragments not so much linked as placed side by side) combined with the strange figurations he presents the players make for unique listening. At first the province of Czech quartets, they have gradually become popular everywhere--players seem to enjoy the challenge they present. The Guarneri is the latest world-famous quartet to record them and offers memorable performances. The music is treated as if it were totally mainstream; the fragments are somehow joined into arching, expressive melodic lines, and the odd figurations transformed into reasonable facsimiles of accompaniments. This beauty comes at a price; when was the last time you were offered 41 minutes of music on a premium CD? --Paul Turok
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 listening for years February 24, 2002
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
These are masterpieces of the literature. Few 20th century
string quartets are full of light. These are. The reviewer below (above) from Australia who mentions "atonal"is as far off the mark as one could get. These are supremely tonal pieces, in fact very conservatively so. In fact,there is not an atonal moment in them, they are more firmly rooted in tonal centers than even Bartok, Hindemith and Ravel quartets of the early part of the century. The comments about small fragments are correct however. These are mosaic structures of great beauty. Other quartets which are crafted similarly are those by Stravinsky. Imagine a more Slavic flavor and you have Janacek.
Different Music, Great Performance. June 27, 2000
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I must confess that I bought this record out of pure curiosity and interest on chamber music. I haven't heard the music beforehand, and was in for quite a surprise, and a good one at that. The Janácek quartets are unlike any others, from any other time. Although they might sound a bit rough at first, repeated hearing will have them grow on you little by little, revealing subtleties previously unthinked of. As for the performance, they are superbly played by the Guarneri Quartet, as usual. This is highly recommended, don't let the duration of only 41 minutes discourage you. This is one where every minute is worth it.
A Discovery July 30, 2000
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
How fortunate I bought this CD! I have discovered Janacek's string quartets, previously unknown to me. They are totally different - Janacek has his own voice, he cannot be compared to any other composer. There is nothing inaccessible here, moments of melody interweave quirky spasms and spiky rhythms. This is interesting music, unlike anything I have heard before. And the Guarneri Quartet is a most persuasive advocate of what for many listeners will be a new sound. Though brief, at 40 minutes, there is ample musical nourishment. I'm so glad I took a chance on an "unknown" quantity. Not for the faint of ear!
Passion with conviction! March 21, 2006
Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The affirmation of the nature, intrinsically linked with the rural world was the propulsive string of his perpetual optimism. At the edge of the musical tendencies, he knew to survey far beyond the limits of the romantic tradition to develop in his inner creative world a fruitful sonorous language; like Bartok he isolated the folkloric roots into an orchestral superstructure, as living and burning expression of a living and beating humanity. That is why he will be particularly reminded by his chamber music beyond other works.
These Quartets reveal themselves with frazzled sincerity and volcanic despair, his late affair with Kamila Stösslova. The programmatic set talks by itself.
It' s useless to affirm that as well as Smetana for instance, Janacek did not yield to the temptations of neoclassic sonorities; underlining with primary passion if you want his environment, preserving for the late generations the genuine roots of his country, creating in his entire work a well known pattern: a continuous repetition of few melodic designs, nourishing with the most fertile and purest colorist timbers of his beloved country.
This is a powerful and well acclaimed choice. Since I knew of this set in those late Seventies, this version seems to enhance through the time thanks primordially, to its vibrant expression.
 From someone who knows April 5, 2001
D. B. Rathbun (Washington, DC United States)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
This disc has impressed many listeners who are not familiar with either Janacek or Guarneri. I have known these quartets for years, have played the both of them, and had a recording already when Guarneri released this one. In sum, this recording is by far the best on the market. It is very nicely played, and beautifully recorded. If you don't know the pieces, the other reviews speak highly of them (my opinion seems to be of little value--most of the things I like very few other people also like) and the fact that other reviews are so unanimous in praising this piece suggests that it would be a good purchase. For those that know the pieces, I can recommend it to you as well.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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