Zach Top The London String Quartet 1917-1951 (8CD)

International products have separate terms, are sold from abroad and may differ from local products, including fit, age ratings, and language of product, labeling or instructions. Review It's a shame that my review isn't in time for this year's Records of the Year because without question this is an outstanding box set, fully deserving of that accolade... It's difficult to overstate the importance of these 1943-50 live Library of Congress recordings. They are the only examples of the London String Quartet live in concert in existence. Not only that, but they capture the group in different formations, in rare repertoire, in good sound, and in truly magnificent performances. Some critics have expressed a very slightly lukewarm attitude to the group, despite the fact that it was one of the most famous around, and despite the fact that, along with the Flonzaley, it was, in its time, the most famous group active in America. I think no one could vouchsafe a lukewarm reaction after hearing these magnificently controlled and hugely communicative, tonally vibrant readings... These eight discs are priced as six and are intelligently distributed amongst the set. Each recital has, where possible, its own disc, which retains the original programming concept, and allows one to hear the quartet on the wing ... As for the booklet there is a full track listing with accurate dating in all respects. Potter s article is largely a revision of one that has already been published in a specialist magazine but it takes stock of the Library of Congress material in way that other article couldn't. It also revises some opinions. It makes for engrossing reading. Lani Spahr has done some splendid re-mastering work. I know, having heard it, that the original source for the Debussy, for example, had a bad scratch during much of the slow movement. He has done an excellent job masking the fact... ...For quartet admirers this is an indispensable set, revealing the greatest British ensemble of the first half of the twentieth century in all its assurance, dedication, technical and musical accomplishment. Was it really that good? Yes it was. - Jonathan Woolf --musicweb-international.com