MOZART: Famous String Quartets (Gewandhaus Quartet)

Laid-back, lyrical Mozart quartets from Mittel Europa
Recorded for the recent "24hours Mozart" broadcast celebration of his 250th birthday, this excellent DVD presents 3 major Mozart string quartets along with the ever popular Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Watching this EuroArts DVD reminded me that there are great stylistic differences inevitably imposed by geography on the performance of Classical and Romantic era music. Listening to the Emerson Quartet play two of these quartets, for example, one hears forceful, analytic Mozart. Not inauthentic, just different: Mozart for the New World, perhaps. Listening to the Hagen Quartet play another one of these quartets, on the other hand, one hears a more ambiguous, lyrical Mozart with darker hues in the strings. The Gewandhaus-Quartett are in the latter category. Their Mozart is lyrical, laid-back, somewhat blithe, emotionally ambiguous with darkness at the edges. This seems to be a Mittel Europa style, perhaps a true Mozartean style born of two centuries of experience with this glorious...

Excellent performance and production
This is the perfect high quality, classical, surround DVD. The sound is superb. The video is nearly HD quality and the setting and room ambience is perfect for string quartet. 16x9 anamorphic - DTS 5.1 multichannel surround.

unexpected pleasures
In the decades when LPs, tapes and CDs were the main source of our experiencing music, we in some ways lost touch with the physicality of performances. Now, my vast collection of opera recordings sit quietly on the shelfs because I prefer watching the singers on DVDs even when the performance is not as polished as some of the classic studio recordings available on the older media. The same applies to this DVD of several Mozart Quartets. To see the concentration and skill of these performers adds imeasurably to the total experience. The sound is exellent and the picture sharp and clear. Two of Mozart's greatest quartets are featured, #14 and #19. To this are added the first of the Hoffmeister quartets and Eine Kleine Nachtmusic with the addition of the string bass. I would have preferred the last of his late quartets with its buzzing bumble bee finale or Quartets #16 and #17 which are great favorites of mine. I was not anticipating enjoying the over played Nachtmusic but was...

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