I am speechless. Awestruck. And so grateful to have found this. These players are SO PLUGGED IN! The Fugue is sublime. This is the voice of the cosmos.
Grosse fuge is maybe the only piece by Beethoven I had to listen to twice to get a grasp on. I feel it is very heartfelt and intense, almost like a prayer or a plea..
I suppose it wouldn't surprise us in the early 21st Century to learn that Beethoven's Quartet No 13 Opus 133 "was universally condemned by contemporary music critics. A reviewer writing for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1826 described the fugue as "incomprehensible, like Chinese" and "a confusion of Babel" [Wikipedia, "Grosse Fugue" ] No one who's not a professional musicologist remembers the names of these critics, but here are a few more quotes from then: ""inaccessible", "eccentric", "filled with paradoxes", and "Armageddon".[Wikipedia] .With these critiques of derision and obliqui in mind, hearing it played by the Belcea Quartet is all the more a wonder to hear. Their playing was the work of a closely-knit ensemble, of highly accomplished and disciplined professionals and above all, of passionate admirers of Beethoven. Beethoven, I have no doubt, wrote the Grosse Fugue with audiences in mind whose eyes and ears would be tuned to music150 years ahead of his own time. This was his genius, of course, and we have to thank him for his foresight and the Belcea Quartet for an outstanding and riveting performance. THANK YOU!
Beethoven did not attend the premier of this work, and when the second violinist reported to him that the audience requested two of the middle movements be encored Beethoven replied, "And the fugue? That alone should have been repeated. Cattle! Asses!"
I have never, NEVER, EVER, heard the word "genius" being used to describe a critic, or their reviews; nor other words such as: "Ahead of his time" "A visionary" "A maverick"
@@Cantbuyathrill I believe that Jean Sibelius wonderfully said: "No monument [ a statue] was ever erected to commemorate a critic." This goes for music, theater, literature, dance, food, wine, paintings, sculpture, poetry, and architecture. There must be a reason for this consistent 'forgetfulness', right? Even a famous critic like George Bernard Shaw is remembered for his own works, not for his articles about others (with few exceptions for wit).In the context of Beethoven's music, there are many critics' carrions on the path to his success: Even Prince Nicholas Esterhazy who called Beethoven's Mass in B 'horrible, revolting and unlistenable' (not an exact quote), i's remembered for other things, even for this bit of piffle but never with anything other than disapprobation. This is as it should be!
Still Beethoven approved for publication the new finale. He was not the type of composer to lower himself to popular taste, particularly in a revered genre like the String Quartet. Though some Grosse Fuge finale champions look down their noses, so to speak, on the published version because presumably that one's finale is lighter (is lightness a sin?), one could make a care for either ending. Whatever, the light new finale is no bagatelle.
This ostensibly live, filmed performance has to my mind the quality of many that I assume to have been pieced together from multiple studio cuts. Bravi!
A new HD-uptaking of this fabulous music, thank you so much Hochrhein Musikfestival! It could not have been done better, the Belcea Quartet at the highest level in interpreting this music, and the sound and picture also topnotch! I am so grateful.
It is hard to understand that at this time 1825, Beethoven was completely deaf. How can a man compose this music without hearing it at all? That question remains, and we still have no answer. Only that we believe that he was composing this in the memory of his earlier hearing of music. He composed it in his mind, and wrote it out on a paper. And it became real music for us, still having ears. Have you ever heard of wonders? This is a true wonder.
Yes, that's outstanding, but that's not what intrigues more about Beethoven. What intrigues me is that, except for Mozart, any other music artist in history was way inferior of Beethoven. I try hard ti admire other composers like I admire Beethoven and I can't, there's something divine about Beethoven. He did had every note in his head, we can argue that, but it seems like a joke that he was deaf. The greatest of all, no one after him became better than him, and he was deaf. It makes me wonder how much of his story is real, or if anything about it is real
Answering this is impossible. Calling out for Schubert, Schumann, Brahms is impossible in this case. I just want you to stay to Beethovens music and find it the best.
@@Cantbuyathrill Funny , a deaf critics criticism of the music of a deaf composer. No, Beethoven could hear this music in his brain, and put it out on notes so we today can hear his genious thoughts about music. And luckily most of us has ears.
BelceaQuartet wie immer höchste Qualität, aber auch Kamera und Schnitt hervorragend (bes. bei der Fuge hilfreich), Raumakustik scheint etwas „trocken“, eher für Musik des 20.Jh. geeignet. Danke!
Is the Belcea Quartet the best string quartet of all time? Perhaps, perhaps not. But regardless, their performance of Beethoven's master-work Opus 130, with the original Fugue... is possibly the greatest rendition of this piece since it was written. Simply Earth-shattering beauty and power.
Even today, the final movement sounds somehow avant garde. No wonder Beethoven’s contemporary critics were so clueless. Being deaf gave him the liberty of breaking rules.
It’s understood this is not easy music to play- it requires intense concentration and the subtleties of rapid changes in dynamics, etc., have got to be as rough on the performers as the emotional strain of the music for the listener. That said, I have a recording of the quartet with both the Great Fugue original ending AND the replacement in succession, so I sort of got used to hearing the piece with the fugue being the second to last part. The alternate ending- the last music Beethoven wrote before his death- is a joyous affair and I miss it appearing after the fugue.
Great quartet, a terrific performance, but why is it so difficult to accurately spell names?? What is the violist's name? Is it Krzystof Chorzuelski or Krzysztof Chrozelski? Unless I google it I'll never know.
Dies ist eine der 10 besten Partituren der gesamten Musikgeschichte.
Это фантастика! Бетховен у Вас просто рядом сидит и говорит как надо играть? Слов нет,мурашки по коже.низко кланяюсь,это нечто,спасибо,Добра!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Finally, a performance that truly knows what this piece is about. Bravissimo.
I am speechless. Awestruck. And so grateful to have found this. These players are SO PLUGGED IN! The Fugue is sublime. This is the voice of the cosmos.
❤столько экспрессии вот это Бетховен
Great performance, and big shout out to the sound engineer, fantastic sound!
❤высочайшая академсчнская утончённость с покоряющей музыкальной певучестью
Grosse fuge is maybe the only piece by Beethoven I had to listen to twice to get a grasp on. I feel it is very heartfelt and intense, almost like a prayer or a plea..
I suppose it wouldn't surprise us in the early 21st Century to learn that Beethoven's Quartet No 13 Opus 133 "was universally condemned by contemporary music critics. A reviewer writing for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1826 described the fugue as "incomprehensible, like Chinese" and "a confusion of Babel" [Wikipedia, "Grosse Fugue" ] No one who's not a professional musicologist remembers the names of these critics, but here are a few more quotes from then: ""inaccessible", "eccentric", "filled with paradoxes", and "Armageddon".[Wikipedia] .With these critiques of derision and obliqui in mind, hearing it played by the Belcea Quartet is all the more a wonder to hear. Their playing was the work of a closely-knit ensemble, of highly accomplished and disciplined professionals and above all, of passionate admirers of Beethoven. Beethoven, I have no doubt, wrote the Grosse Fugue with audiences in mind whose eyes and ears would be tuned to music150 years ahead of his own time. This was his genius, of course, and we have to thank him for his foresight and the Belcea Quartet for an outstanding and riveting performance. THANK YOU!
Beethoven did not attend the premier of this work, and when the second violinist reported to him that the audience requested two of the middle movements be encored Beethoven replied, "And the fugue? That alone should have been repeated. Cattle! Asses!"
@@TheGloryofMusic A wonderful story. Sounds exactly like Herr Beethoven. Thanks!
I have never, NEVER, EVER, heard the word "genius" being used to describe a critic, or their reviews;
nor other words such as:
"Ahead of his time"
"A visionary"
"A maverick"
@@Cantbuyathrill I believe that Jean Sibelius wonderfully said: "No monument [ a statue] was ever erected to commemorate a critic." This goes for music, theater, literature, dance, food, wine, paintings, sculpture, poetry, and architecture. There must be a reason for this consistent 'forgetfulness', right? Even a famous critic like George Bernard Shaw is remembered for his own works, not for his articles about others (with few exceptions for wit).In the context of Beethoven's music, there are many critics' carrions on the path to his success: Even Prince Nicholas Esterhazy who called Beethoven's Mass in B 'horrible, revolting and unlistenable' (not an exact quote), i's remembered for other things, even for this bit of piffle but never with anything other than disapprobation. This is as it should be!
Still Beethoven approved for publication the new finale. He was not the type of composer to lower himself to popular taste, particularly in a revered genre like the String Quartet. Though some Grosse Fuge finale champions look down their noses, so to speak, on the published version because presumably that one's finale is lighter (is lightness a sin?), one could make a care for either ending. Whatever, the light new finale is no bagatelle.
This ostensibly live, filmed performance has to my mind the quality of many that I assume to have been pieced together from multiple studio cuts. Bravi!
A new HD-uptaking of this fabulous music, thank you so much Hochrhein Musikfestival! It could not have been done better, the Belcea Quartet at the highest level in interpreting this music, and the sound and picture also topnotch! I am so grateful.
Superb performance ! Superb recording ! Many thanks for sharing this wonderful performance !
Limpid as much as thrilling the performance. This quartet is a mix of tenderness and roughness. A punch directly to the heart.
And that's Beethoven, that mixture! This is his best! And they do it justice.
It is hard to understand that at this time 1825, Beethoven was completely deaf. How can a man compose this music without hearing it at all? That question remains, and we still have no answer. Only that we believe that he was composing this in the memory of his earlier hearing of music. He composed it in his mind, and wrote it out on a paper. And it became real music for us, still having ears. Have you ever heard of wonders? This is a true wonder.
Yes, that's outstanding, but that's not what intrigues more about Beethoven. What intrigues me is that, except for Mozart, any other music artist in history was way inferior of Beethoven. I try hard ti admire other composers like I admire Beethoven and I can't, there's something divine about Beethoven. He did had every note in his head, we can argue that, but it seems like a joke that he was deaf. The greatest of all, no one after him became better than him, and he was deaf. It makes me wonder how much of his story is real, or if anything about it is real
Answering this is impossible. Calling out for Schubert, Schumann, Brahms is impossible in this case. I just want you to stay to Beethovens music and find it the best.
Perhaps I can send you the 7:th symphonie in a new uptaking. Dont be offended.
ruclips.net/video/E0gNbOL-mgk/видео.html
The thing is that Beethoven may have bren completely deaf by then, but his critics were absolutely deaf before then.
@@Cantbuyathrill Funny , a deaf critics criticism of the music of a deaf composer. No, Beethoven could hear this music in his brain, and put it out on notes so we today can hear his genious thoughts about music. And luckily most of us has ears.
Still a good thing with this music is that it never ends questioning us about our relation to music. Also in this matter it is extraordinary.
Absolutely masterful.
Quelle vitalité! Du coup ce quartet devient éblouissant ! Oui, merci et bravissimo!
Danke, eine überwältigende Referenz-Einspielung, das hat sehr großen Spaß gemacht!
The cellist was especially solid
1st movement
0:10 begins
*4th movement
22:41 begins
BelceaQuartet wie immer höchste Qualität, aber auch Kamera und Schnitt hervorragend (bes. bei der Fuge hilfreich), Raumakustik scheint etwas „trocken“, eher für Musik des 20.Jh. geeignet. Danke!
i really like the strength of their sound. very powerful. well done!!!!!! thanks for posting!!!!!!
Is the Belcea Quartet the best string quartet of all time? Perhaps, perhaps not. But regardless, their performance of Beethoven's master-work Opus 130, with the original Fugue... is possibly the greatest rendition of this piece since it was written. Simply Earth-shattering beauty and power.
Fantastic. The life with music… True love.
Extraordinaire
Even today, the final movement sounds somehow avant garde. No wonder Beethoven’s contemporary critics were so clueless. Being deaf gave him the liberty of breaking rules.
훌륭한 연주 잘 들었습니다. 감사합니다.~~~
Heavenly
Superb! This song made me cry with emotion. My thanks to Beethoven, Belcea Quartet, Joël Cormier and Johannes Bachmann. S2
So perfect 🥰
Thank you for sharing
Bravo/Brava.
Superba esecuzione!
Per la prima volta ho sentito La grande fuga in tutta la sua grandezza ed il senso di ogni voce.
Felicidades..... .... ....
Other worldly. My breath is taken away.
❤браво квартет
Magnifique. Merci!
I love Corina Belcea
Thank you so much - Belcea is a great quartet.
It’s understood this is not easy music to play- it requires intense concentration and the subtleties of rapid changes in dynamics, etc., have got to be as rough on the performers as the emotional strain of the music for the listener. That said, I have a recording of the quartet with both the Great Fugue original ending AND the replacement in succession, so I sort of got used to hearing the piece with the fugue being the second to last part.
The alternate ending- the last music Beethoven wrote before his death- is a joyous affair and I miss it appearing after the fugue.
Besides the concentration aspect, this looks physically exhausting for these musiciams
I would like to have a fixed camera. This is a quartet, not four soloists.
38:06 Grosse Solo von 2. Violine? Abgebrochen?
Great quartet, a terrific performance, but why is it so difficult to accurately spell names??
What is the violist's name? Is it Krzystof Chorzuelski or Krzysztof Chrozelski?
Unless I google it I'll never know.
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉훌륭
Take the camera, plant it in front of them, turn it on, and go have lunch.
❤
◑ 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 ◐
The starting jingle is disturbing. Please, don't, when we expect such serious classical music.
Hear hear about 👌