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Discussion: Haydn: String Quartets Op. 55 - Auryn Quartet

Posts: 8

Post by rammiepie July 19, 2014 (1 of 8)
After Polly Nomial's glowing 5 star review I can only add that the TACET blu ray series, IMHO, is a complete success.

I have a number of TACET BD~As (including this one under review) and I would give them ALL 5 stars across the board for their stunning (and I mean STUNNING) discrete sonics, performances and choice of repertoire.

Post by Chris from Lafayette July 20, 2014 (2 of 8)
rammiepie said:

After Polly Nomial's glowing 5 star review I can only add that the TACET blu ray series, IMHO, is a complete success.

I have a number of TACET BD~As (including this one under review) and I would give them ALL 5 stars across the board for their stunning (and I mean STUNNING) discrete sonics, performances and choice of repertoire.

Ralph - you are so right about this Auryn Haydn series. I don't have the Op. 55 quartets on blu-ray yet, but I do have the blu-ray disc that contains the Op. 77, 103, and 42 quartets (as well as the Op. 1, 17, 33, 54, 71 and 74 quartets on DVD-A), and I'm so happy with them! (Strange to say, I'm less favorably impressed by some of the Auryn's recordings of later compoers, but their Haydn is great in terms of tonal quality, balance, tempo, phrasing - a complete success as you say!)

I also love the SACD Haydn quartet series that's going on with various groups on the Praga label. I have most of those recordings too, and find it hard to pick between them and the Auryn discs on Tacet. Both series are interestingly played and wonderfully recorded (Praga in a conventional way and Tacet in their usual unconventional way!). Another thing I love is that both series are blessedly free of HIP contamination! ;-)

Post by Lute July 20, 2014 (3 of 8)
Chris from Lafayette said:

Strange to say, I'm less favorably impressed by some of the Auryn's recordings of later composers,

I hope you're not talking about their DVDA Beethoven quartet cycle. I just picked up some used copies of these. Listening to Vol.3 as I write...so far I like what I am hearing. In fact, I prefer this music in immersive surround more than Tacet's recordings of Beethoven's symphonies.

Post by Fugue July 20, 2014 (4 of 8)
Lute said:

I hope you're not talking about their DVDA Beethoven quartet cycle. I just picked up some used copies of these. Listening to Vol.3 as I write...so far I like what I am hearing. In fact, I prefer this music in immersive surround more than Tacet's recordings of Beethoven's symphonies.

Do you attend any live concerts? One is not typically surrounded by the musicians!

Post by Chris from Lafayette July 20, 2014 (5 of 8)
Lute said:

I hope you're not talking about their DVDA Beethoven quartet cycle. I just picked up some used copies of these. Listening to Vol.3 as I write...so far I like what I am hearing. In fact, I prefer this music in immersive surround more than Tacet's recordings of Beethoven's symphonies.

Lute - I agree with everything you say - yes, I like the Auryn's Beethoven too and I have the whole cycle on DVD-A. I didn't mean at all to imply that they were lacking in their Beethoven performances. (I was thinking more of their recording of the Brahms Piano Quintet - certainly not bad, but there several I like better.)

I also have the Tacet Beethoven Symphony cycle with the Rajski and the Polish Chamber Phil (well, at least as far as they got!) and I love it too. In theory, one might look askance at Tacet's "immersive" sound, but their execution of it won me over, and I feel that the performances have real life!

Post by Lute July 20, 2014 (6 of 8)
Fugue said:

Do you attend any live concerts? One is not typically surrounded by the musicians!

Yes, I do. And I completely understand your reaction to such an immersive mix. Tacet's sound is an acquired taste, isn't it! I tried some of their Beethoven's symphonies. My reaction was lukewarm.

But... while not a normal soundstage image by a long shot, Tacet's aggressive mix seems to work better with Beethoven's quartets. Perhaps it's because there are only 4 instruments. The recording sounds less busy than one with a full orchestra. Anyway, I have several recordings of these works. I just wanted to try something different.

So, to clarify my post above, I didn't mean to imply that I prefer quartet music recorded in immersive sound. I was just saying I prefer Tacet's immersive quartet recordings to Tacet's immersive symphony recordings of Beethoven.

Post by Chris from Lafayette July 20, 2014 (7 of 8)
Fugue said:

Do you attend any live concerts? One is not typically surrounded by the musicians!

That's of course true, but as a way to experience this music in a new way (where one might actually learn some previously hidden things about the texture, etc.), Tacet's immersive surround engineering can be a fun ride! And as I mentioned in the previous post, I'm somewhat against recording this way in theory (for the very reason you describe), but the Tacet engineers have seduced me!

Post by Lute July 20, 2014 (8 of 8)
Chris from Lafayette said:
I agree the performances of Beethoven symphonies are very good and have "real life."

As I mentioned, Tacet's immersive recordings are an acquired taste. But I really enjoy Tacet's Ravel: La valse, Ma mère l'Oye, Tzigane, Boléro, Pavane - Rizzi. So, maybe I need to give those recordings of the symphonies a few more listenings in order to warm up to them.

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