IT'S one of the most overworked expressions in the book, but never has the phrase "collectors' item" been more apposite.
When the great Tokyo String Quartet retired last year, bowing out after 40 years, they left a rich recorded legacy, including fresh recordings of Beethoven's String Quartets made between 2005 and 2008 for the Harmonia Mundi label, with whom the group had recorded exclusively for 10 years. The performances, as the series rolled out, were representative of the quartet's legendary polish and interpretative depths. Harmonia Mundi has gathered these and reissued them, for the first time in SACD and first time in a boxed set of eight CDs that will retail at just over £33, though intrepid web-scourers will probably track them down at half that price. There are very many recorded complete sets, right through to the currently unfolding cycle by the Quartetto di Cremona, but the glorious Tokyo cycle will hold its place forever as a revered collectors' jewel.
Michael Tumelty
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