Budapest String Quartet
Founded in 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the Budapest Quartet became the most internationally successful chamber ensemble of modern times. Across 50 years, and a repertory ranging from Mozart to Bartok, the group brought chamber music of these composers to audiences on two continents, and further popularized the music through their recordings.
The Budapest Quartet's original members were Emil Hauser, Imre Poganyi, Istvan Ipolyi, and Harry Son, all of whom had played in the Budapest Opera Orchestra. Their debut concert in 1917, at Kolozsvar in Hungary, was a great success, and by the early 1920's they'd begun touring Europe. The group was acclaimed by audiences and critics everywhere for their superb ensemble playing and the depth and insight that they brought to their repertory, which extended from the Classical to the contemporary, including the quartets of Bartok and Kodaly.
The group flourished during the late 1920's and early 1930's despite numerous membership changes. Joseph Roisman, who joined on second violin in 1927, became the leader of the group a few years later, replacing Emil Hauser in the 1930's. Ipolyi was succeeded by Alexander Schneider, while Son was replaced by Schneider's brother Mischa, and in 1936 Boris Kroyt joined on the viola.
The second generation Budapest Quartet was, if anything, even more technically impressive than the first, more incisive in its playing and overall faster, with more frequent (and modern) use of vibrato. Roisman's leadership brought the group to America, at first simply on tour, and also into the recording studio in a serious way for the first time. From 1938 onward, amid the growing uncertainty of life in Europe, the Budapest Quartet moved to the United States and was based for the next 24 years as the quartet-in-residence at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., before moving to the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1962. Among their more notable work for the Library of Congress, they recorded Schubert's "Trout" Quintet and other works with the conductor George Szell on the piano during 1945 and 1946. Their major commercial recording activity, however, was done for Columbia Masterworks (now Sony Classical) beginning in the early 1950's.
Key to the group's repertory during their American era were the Beethoven quartets, which they recorded several times and performed complete nearly every year. For performances of the quintets, they were augmented with the presence of Milton Katims and Walter Trampler. Their work continued until 1967, when they gave their last performance. The ravages of age and illness forced the retirement of Mischa Schneider, and then Roisman and Kroyt.
The Budapest Quartet was among the most honored and respected chamber ensembles of the early and middle twentieth century, an era in which the orchestra was the dominant force in classical music. The performances of the original quartet brought the chamber music of such varies composers and Mozart and Bartok to a wider audience than ever before, and the later group's embrace of the Beethoven quartets and quintets, in concert and on record, gave these works the best hearings they had in modern times.
© Bruce Eder
Note: The Budapest Quartet left behind many dozens of recordings, going back at least to the period in which Ipolyi was still with the group. All are worth sampling, and the list below is simply a very tiny overview of potential starting points from different periods and in various price ranges and configurations.
Beethoven String Quartets Op. 59 Nos. 1-3 Sony [8]
String Quartets Op. 18 Sony [9]
Ravel String Quartet (w/Debussy Quartet) Sony [7]
Schubert Trout Quintet etc. (w/George Szell) Bridge [8]
Trout Quintet etc. Sony [7]
Sibelius et al Various Biddulph [8] /TiVo
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Beethoven: Les 17 quatuors à cordes, vol. 1 (Mono Version)
Classique - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Quatuors pour piano
George Szell, Benny Goodman, Budapest String Quartet
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Naxos le 25 janv. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet, Op. 44 / BRAHMS: Piano Quartet No. 2 (Curzon, Budapest Quartet) (1951-1952)
Clifford Curzon, Budapest String Quartet
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Naxos le 1 janv. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig Van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131 (Recordings of 1943)
Pop - Paru chez GazzaLadra le 31 mars 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: String Quartet and Clarinet in A Major, K. 581 - String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465
Budapest String Quartet, Benny Goodman
Musique de chambre - Paru chez RHI le 7 déc. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Great Violinists, Vol. 29
Budapest String Quartet, Lener Quartet, The Busch Quartet
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Symposium le 4 sept. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Quatuor à cordes No. 15 (Mono Version)
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel & Debussy: Quatuors à cordes (Mono Version)
Classique - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók & Stravinsky: Chamber Music
Budapest String Quartet, Kolisch Quartet, Krettly Quartet
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Biddulph Recordings le 1 déc. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: The Early Quartets (Live)
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Bridge Records le 13 sept. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Quintettes à cordes Nos. 1 & 2 (Mono Version)
Classique - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Great Performances from the Library of Congress, Vol. 21 (Live)
Boris Kroyt, Jac Gorodetzky, Budapest String Quartet, Artur Balsam, John Barrows
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Bridge Records le 28 juin 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 8 & 13
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Biddulph Recordings le 6 juin 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert & Brahms: Chamber Works
Benar Heifetz, Budapest String Quartet
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Biddulph Recordings le 6 nov. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: String Quartets Nos. 7 & 13 & Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
Budapest String Quartet, Emil Hauser, Imre Pogány, Joseph Roisman, Istvàn Ipolyi, Harry Son
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Biddulph Recordings le 1 sept. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart & Dvořák: String Quartets
Budapest String Quartet, Benny Goodman
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Biddulph Recordings le 23 mars 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, vol. 11
George Szell, Walter Gieseking, Budapest String Quartet
Classique - Paru chez ArnebAudio le 5 mars 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Do You Want? - String Quartet
Amadeus String Quartet, Budapest String Quartet
Classique - Paru chez Urania Records le 22 mars 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Mozart: Quatuors à cordes Nos. 14 & 15 (Mono Version)
Budapest String Quartet, Joseph Roisman, Jac Gorodetzky, Boris Kroyt, Mischa Schneider
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
MOZART: STRING QUARTET "DISSONANCE & HOFFMEISTER" - "QUINTET FOR CLARINET AND STRINGS"
Classique - Paru chez Nar Classical le 13 sept. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo