Ludwig van Beethoven

“The virtues of these performances are evident from the very start of the F major Sonata. There's an absolute unanimity of phrasing and articulation between Anne Gastinel and François-Frédéric Guy in those searching arpeggios. The give and take between the instruments in the ensuing dialogue seems perfectly mapped out, bringing a delightful Mozartian grace to both the Allegro and the Rondo.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2005 ****

“The phrases are finely drawn, with tone that is never inappropriately heavy or too powerfully sustained. The rhythms are poised, the articulation clear and crisp, and in the variation sets as well as in the early sonata there’s an element of wit and playfulness that’s an essential part of the young Beethoven.” Gramophone Magazine

“It is impossible to exaggerate the beauty of the tone-colours that these four musicians achieve... If late Beethoven is the Holy Grail of quartet playing, then the Takács Quartet has found it” The Guardian (concert review)

“Interpreters of the late quartets have to convey what at times sounds like a stream of musical consciousness while respecting the many written markings. The Takács do better than most. For openers, they had access to the new Henle Edition and have made use of some textual changes – nothing too drastic but encouraging evidence of a good musical conscience. In Op 130 they take the long first-movement exposition repeat, using the Grosse Fuge as the rightful finale (Beethoven's original intention) which, in the context of their fiery reading of the fugue, works well.
Contemporary incredulity at the sheer scale and complexity of the fugue caused Beethoven to offer a simpler alternative finale, in which they again play the repeat, which helps balance the 'alternative' structure.
The Takács evidently appreciate this music both as musical argument and as sound. Try their glassy sul ponticello at the end of Op 131's Scherzo, or the many instances where plucked and bowed passages are fastidiously balanced.
Attenuated inflections are honoured virtually to the letter, textures carefully differentiated, musical pauses intuitively well-timed and inner voices nearly always transparent.
This set completes one of the best available Beethoven quartet cycles, possibly the finest in an already rich digital market, more probing than the pristine Emersons or Alban Bergs (live), more refined than the gutsy and persuasive Lindsays, and less consciously stylised than the Juilliards (and always with the historic Busch Quartet as an essential reference).” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Zinman's Beethoven symphonies won awards, and this set of the overtures has similar features - lithe, energetic conducting, lean, incisively direct interpretations. Leonore No. 3 is particularly bracing.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2005 ****

"All five sonatas are in my view really extraordinary." Alfred Brendel in the Guardian (London) June 2004.

“This completes the Florestan Trio's Beethoven series. Their thoughtfulness throughout has been impressive; their overall style avoids heaviness, keeping the textures light and airy, and giving every phrase individual life and character.
Occasionally the liveliness can seem relentless, but their bubbling vitality is a natural response to Beethoven's inventiveness. And their care for detail makes the early and not fully characteristic Variations in E flat (Op 44) into an absorbing, thoroughly entertaining piece.
It's interesting to compare Op 1 No 3 with the version by the Kempf Trio (BIS), which is finely played but less searching as an interpretation.
The contrast is especially noticeable in the Andante, treated by Kempf and friends as a poetic, hymn-like slow movement, while the Florestans give us a true 18th-century Andante; much faster, and, in places, light and playful.
Op 11 is often more enjoyable in the version with clarinet instead of violin. But this is another Florestan triumph. By modifying the usual robust, jolly character of the outer movements, and introducing more delicate tones, Anthony Marwood can interpret his part in violinistic terms, establishing a close rapport with the cello, yet, at the start of the finale, proving he can be as bright and perky as any clarinettist.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010