Benjamin Britten - String Quartets Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (Takács Quartet)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Britten

• String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 25
• String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36
• String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94

Takács Quartet

    Edward Dusinberre, violin

    Károly Schranz, violin

    Geraldine Walther, viola

    András Fejér, cello

Date: 2013

Label: Hyperion

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Review

Having passed through a period when I favoured the exceptionally dramatic view of Britten’s three quartets from the Belcea Quartet (EMI), I found more to enjoy with the arrival of a literal approach to the printed scores from the Maggini Quartet (Naxos). Now we have the best of both worlds in this new recording from the Takács Quartet.

Although at times the players employ daringly fast tempos, as in the opening movement of the First Quartet, their clarity and rhythmic exactitude remove any sense of undue haste. The third movement is also taken much quicker than in the Maggini’s more intense reading, and by lightening the texture they lessen the contrast with a finale that can easily sound frothy in other hands. The careful placement of the quiet cello pizzicatos that close the opening movement of the Second Quartet is indicative of the depth of thought that the Takács players bring to the whole cycle, and their final Chacony has plenty of urgency.

The Third Quartet, as we often find, is the most difficult to hold together, though here the problem is circumvented by adopting an energetic approach until the final Passacaglia, which is approached with an unadorned sadness. I would not want to be without the Maggini, but the Takács has set a new benchmark for these works, in excellent recorded sound.

— David Denton

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Benjamin Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was a leading British composer, pianist and conductor. Trained at the Royal College of Music, he gained early acclaim with Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge and achieved international prominence with the opera Peter Grimes (1945). His major stage works include Billy Budd, The Turn of the Screw, and Death in Venice, alongside innovative church parables such as Curlew River. Co-founder of the Aldeburgh Festival, he also composed celebrated song cycles, choral works including the War Requiem, and notable orchestral and chamber music.

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The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér. Current members include Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Richard O’Neill (viola) and András Fejér (cello). All members are Christoffersen Fellows and Artists in Residence at the University of Colorado, Boulder. For their CDs on Hyperion and Decca labels, the Quartet has won four Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, three Japanese Record Academy Awards, Disc of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards, and Presto Music Recording of the Year Award.

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