Beethoven String Quartets Wihan Quartet Beethoven Cycle - Concert 1 - We have followed this famous Czech string quartet since they won the London International Competition in 1981. They have maintained the same personnel all that time and developed a reliable rapport and unanimity in their performances. I have described them as hard to write about, because their style and technique are impeccable, but Blackheath Halls (where they have often played and conducted master classes) seems to suit them particularly well. This was an outstanding recital, which augurs well for the complete cycle which they are repeating here, soon after completing the first ever to have been given in Prague*; maybe it was first for Blackheath too? A felicitous novelty was the inclusion of Beethoven's own arrangement of one of his earlier piano sonatas. Two quartets in F were the pillars of the recital; the earlier one reminding us that Beethoven was far from a novice when he composed his Op. 18 set. No.1 was in fact the last to reach its definitive form. After a period of immersion in quartets of the period (Clementi, Reicha, Boccherini etc) one was reminded afresh of the strength of these works which have established themselves firmly in the repertoire. The performance of the first of the expansive Razumovsky Quartets, Opus 59 was inspired and gripping from beginning to end. The sound from the back of the Recital Room, with all the curtains around the windows closed, was ideal, and good reason to make the journey to Blackheath for the rest of the cycle (c.15 minutes by rail from Charing X or London Bridge). The ony reservation was that the temperature built up, which must have been trying for the players and testing for their instruments, which needed some retuning between movements. Peter Grahame Woolf *If you can't get to the whole series, there is an affordable andrecommendable boxed set of all the Beethoven quartets, including the "extras" - a fully competitive set at a fair price if you want another intégrale. [Lotos LT 0148-2 10 Cds]
And the Prague Beethoven cycle is shortly to be released on the Wihan's own label - meanwhile visit www.wihanquartet.com, where they can be seen playing and teaching on a short UTube film by Anthony Ede. PGW
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