Seller's comment :
Bartók: The Six String Quartets / Fine Arts Quartet
Release Date: 01/24/2006
Label: Music & Arts Programs Of America Catalog #: 1176 Spars Code: ADD
Composer: Béla Bartók
Performer: Leonard Sorkin, Abram Loft, Bernard Zaslav, George Sopkin, ...
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fine Arts String Quartet
Number of Discs: 3
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 3 Hours 08 Mins.
Works on This Recording
1. Quartet for Strings no 1 in A minor, Op. 7/Sz 40 by Béla Bartók
Performer: Leonard Sorkin (Violin), Abram Loft (Violin), Bernard Zaslav (Viola),
George Sopkin (Cello), Irving Ilmer (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fine Arts String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908; Budapest, Hungary
Date of Recording: 1959
2. Quartet for Strings no 2 in A minor, Op. 17 by Béla Bartók
Performer: Bernard Zaslav (Viola), Leonard Sorkin (Violin), Abram Loft (Violin),
George Sopkin (Cello), Irving Ilmer (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fine Arts String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915-1917; Budapest, Hungary
Date of Recording: 1959
3. Quartet for Strings no 3, Sz 85 by Béla Bartók
Performer: George Sopkin (Cello), Bernard Zaslav (Viola), Abram Loft (Violin),
Leonard Sorkin (Violin), Irving Ilmer (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fine Arts String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1927; Budapest, Hungary
Date of Recording: 1959
4. Quartet for Strings no 4, Sz 91 by Béla Bartók
Performer: George Sopkin (Cello), Bernard Zaslav (Viola), Abram Loft (Violin),
Leonard Sorkin (Violin), Irving Ilmer (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fine Arts String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928; Budapest, Hungary
Date of Recording: 1959
5. Quartet for Strings no 5, Sz 102 by Béla Bartók
Performer: Bernard Zaslav (Viola), Abram Loft (Violin), George Sopkin (Cello),
Leonard Sorkin (Violin), Irving Ilmer (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fine Arts String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; Budapest, Hungary
Date of Recording: 1959
6. Quartet for Strings no 6, Sz 114 by Béla Bartók
Performer: Leonard Sorkin (Violin), George Sopkin (Cello), Abram Loft (Violin),
Bernard Zaslav (Viola), Irving Ilmer (Viola)
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fine Arts String Quartet
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939; Budapest, Hungary
Date of Recording: 1959
Notes and Editorial Reviews
The acclaimed 1959 Concert-Disc recordings; digitally restored from the original masters - issued under license from Countdown Media. This set was very highly regarded during its LP-life which lasted over a quarter-century. Harold C. Schonberg wrote in The New York Times: 'The Fine Arts Quartet is an excellent ensemble: secure in intonation, musically alert, precise in workmanship. It makes a good showing in the Bartók quartets, approaching the music with sensitivity and instrumental strength.'
Pressestimmen:
In solch einer Güte an selbstlosem, dem Werk zugewandten, und verständigem Spiel hört man diese sechs Streichquartette so gut wie nie.
Ensemble 4 / 5 2006
Produktinfo:
Diese Box mit dem Fine Arts Quartet gehörte in den sechziger Jahren zu den herausragenden Einspielungen der Quartette Bartoks, die bedauerlicherweise bislang nie auf CD erhältlich war. Für die Überspielung auf CD hat man nicht nur die bei Music&Arts übliche Sorgfalt walten lassen, sondern auch ein ausführliches Booklet beigefügt. Ergänzt wird die Edition durch die Audio-Überspielung einer Fernseheinführung von Bartoks erstem Quartett durch Mitglieder des Quartetts von 1959.
