Product Description
The Decca label has released this four disc set of chamber music, entitled ‘A Celebration’, in recognition of the thirtieth anniversary season of the Grammy award winning Takács Quartet.
The Takács was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér, while all four were students at the Academy. The Quartets founder Gabor Takács-Nagy left in 1993 to pursue a solo career and the original violist Gábor Ormai sadly died in 1995. Two Englishmen joined the Takács Quartet, the violinist Edward Dusinberre in 1993 and violist Roger Tapping in 1995. Of the original ensemble, the Hungarian-born violinist Károly Schranz and cellist András Fejér remain.
At the time of writing this review the Takács has announced the departure of violist Roger Tapping. Geraldine Walther, principal violist of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, is to join the Quartet.
The Takács Quartet is renowned for several award-winning recordings on the Decca label. The double CD set of Beethoven’s three ‘Rasumovsky’ Quartets, Op. 59 and the Quartet in E flat Major, Op. 74, ‘Harp’ won an esteemed Grammy Award and the prestigious Gramophone Award for Best Chamber Performance in 2002.
Being a conspectus of the career of the Takács Quartet, ‘A Celebration’ features both the ‘original’ and ‘new’ Takács line-ups. Guest artists on this set include pianist Andreas Haefliger in a superbly eloquent performance of the Dvorák Piano Quintet, Op. 81 and cellist Miklós Perényi in the great C major String Quintet, Op. 163 of Schubert. A quick check has revealed that surprisingly much of the repertoire on this four disc set is not available in the catalogues at this present time.
"... this is not just a run-of-the-mill compilation album but a wonderful celebratory collection, both in terms of the elevated standard of the musical content and the superb interpretations. Super sound quality as we have come to expect from Decca and the annotation is pretty good too. A top class release worthy of considerable praise. It would enhance any collection." - MusicWeb International.
Tracklisting
CD 1
Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
String Quartet in C major, Op. 76 No. 3 Emperor (1796-1797)
Recorded at the Schubertsaal, Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria in August 1987a
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Serenade for strings (No. 13) in G major, KV 525 Eine kleine Nachtmusik (1787)
Recorded at the Reitstadel, Neumarkt, Germany in November 1997be
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
String Quartet in A major, Op. 18 No. 5 (1798-1800)
Recorded at St. Georges Church, Bristol, England in November 2002b
CD 2
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
String Quartet in F major, Op. 96 American (1893)
Recorded at the Henry Wood Hall, London, England in August 1989a
Bedřich SMETANA (1824-1884)
String Quartet No. 1 in E minor From my life (1876)
Recorded at the Evangelische Kirche, Honrath, Germany in Nov. to Dec. 1995b
Alexander BORODIN (1833-1887)
String Quartet No. 2 in D major (1881)
Recorded at the Evangelische Kirche, Honrath, Germany in Nov. to Dec. 1995b
CD 3
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Five Bagatelles, for 2 violins, cello and harmonium, Op. 47 (1878)
Recorded at the Henry Wood Hall, London, England in August 1989af
Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81 (1887)
Recorded at the Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, England in November 1998bc
Hugo WOLF (1860 - 1903)
Italian Serenade, for String Quartet in G major (1887)
Recorded at the Reitstadel, Neumarkt, Germany in November 1997b
CD 4
Franz Peter SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
String Quintet in C major, Op. 163, D.956 (1828)
Recorded at the Church Studios, Crouch End, London, England in December 1991ad
Bela BARTÓK (1881-1945)
String Quartet No. 4, Sz 91 (1928)
Recorded at the Reitstadel, Neumarkt, Germany in August to September 1996b
Takács Quartet (original line-up)a Gabor Takács-Nagy (violin); Károly Schranz (violin); Gabor Ormai (viola); András Fejér (cello)
Takács Quartet (present line-up)b Edward Dusinberre (violin); Károly Schranz (violin)
Roger Tapping (viola); András Fejér (cello)
Additional players: Andreas Haefliger (piano)c; Miklós Perényi (cello)d; Joseph Carver (double bass)e; Gabor Ormai (harmonium)f
DECCA 476 2802 [4CDs: 72:00 + 78:30 + 62:29 + 78:13]
