What good fortune one has sometimes! Sometimes the "three for a buck" god casts his/her glances my way enabling me to acquire great music played by great musicians at about the price of a gumball. Here the contents of two lps released by that "other RCA" on their Allegro Elite label. Haydn's Op. 54 No. 2 and Op. 77 No. 1 along with Beethoven's second and third Op. 18 quartets played by the Kroll Quartet.
In its heyday, the Kroll Quartet was justly renowned and often mentioned in the same breath as the famed Budapest Quartet. As we all know, many have held the Budapest to be a gold standard though admittedlly personal changes through the years often played havoc with the end result. Well, no bother, here it is the magnificence of the Kroll, an ensemble truly made of peers who play for, and to, each other.
The Haydn and Beethoven quartets are immaculately played and oh, so intimate in style and texture. If you are tired of quartets that try to find the "symphonic" in these rather personal works, this is your antidote. I cannot stress the intimacy of the playing and the apparent joy that these musicians convey by the act of purely playing together. It reminds me of the famed Casals-Schneider-Istomin recordings. So refreshing and beautiful! Such a shame that the "other RCA" could not provide the recording excellence that the Kroll richly deserved though the mono sound is quite listenable.
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