For the Best of Tacet 2013, the label has chosen from their lengthy catalogue only the greatest and most famous composers performed by some of the finest ensembles in the world.. The tracks included here feature pieces by Vivaldi, Mussorgsky, Saint-Saens, Bartholdy, Chopin, Beethoven, Haydn, and more. All of these tracks have been taken from previous releases. Every one of the 'Best of Tacet' albums has been a stunning success. Ulrich Oesterle writes of Tacet recordings: "Unconventional ways of thinking and enormous skill produce sounds and musical results which are not only astonishing but also totally convincing. Tacet campaigns for quality. And Tacet stands for unusual artistic ideas, truly outstanding musical personalities and audiophile sounds. Tacet is successful and is now available all over the world."

This release has been sourced from the Richard Itter archive of 'live' recordings. The collection is very important for collectors because it has never been released before onto the market. Following the archive's launch in October 2017 with releases featuring Beecham, Bohm, Cantelli, Karajan, du Pre, Klemperer and Rostropovich, it has received universal praise from both the classical media and record collectors for the excellent sound and performances. Robert Casadesus was a renowned 20th century French pianist and composer who knew and worked with Ravel. He was especially known for his celebrated performances of the Mozart Concertos accompanied on record by George Szell- the Gramophone called it 'exquisite Mozart playing,' as well as his recordings of Ravel, Faure and Debussy. He recorded Beethoven's First, Fourth, and Fifth Concertos, the latter two multiple times, though these were all made in the studio. He also extensively recorded the Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Zino Francescatti, who also appears in ICA Classics' Pierre Monteaux set.

Distance lends enchantment. This famous mid-century group used to sound ‘big’ in its time, and fortepiano fanciers will wince at the expansive, fruity opening to the Archduke. The rest of us can enjoy a generosity of phrasing that now seems to sing the joy and pain of life itself. To be frank it is a bit sedentary, but the steady pulse allows the interplay of fine musical responses to be taken in at ease. Several degrees lighter in manner and acoustic – and despite a stereo spread that, with headphones, has violin and cello arguing from opposite sides of your head – the Ghost has energy and feeling even if it doesn’t peer over the existential edge.

-- Robert Maycock, BBC Music Magazine

There are plenty of recordings of Beethoven's symphonies already! But this new recording occupies a unique place amongst them.

The stereo version of this SACD is the first recording of the symphonies to use TACET's own 'Tube Only' technique. Devotees of this recording technique consider the resulting audio effect to be particularly homogeneous and, despite all its brilliance, not cold.
The surround sound version in this SACD had to be made because there was no existing recording of the symphonies in TACET's Real Surround Sound. And this is music which cries out for the true Surround Sound experience. Beethoven extending horizons again!

This pioneering recording procedure was developed in 1999 by TACET and has undergone subsequent improvement. The guiding principle is always the score itself. 30 of these issues are now available, and they all confirm how excitingly new and moving we can find familiar works. The listener's reaction to this type of recording is precisely not 'I know this already'.

The uniqueness of these Beethoven recordings is thus partly a result of the different conceptions and aspects of the recording technique, but also derives from the intelligent and highly musical interpretation of this grandiose music. Both versions - stereo and surround - 'overflow with music'. Wojciech Rajski and the Polish Chamber Philharmonia demonstrate that their performances together are always 'in the forefront'.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Performers:
Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra
Wojciech Rajski, Conductor


Track Listing:
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major op. 55
1. Allegro con brio
2. Marcia funebre. Adagio assai
3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4. Finale. Allegro molto - Poco andante - Presto
Symphony No. 4 in B flat major op. 60
5. Adagio - Allegro vivace
6. Adagio
7. Allegro molto e vivace - un poco meno allegro
8. Allegro ma non troppo


Total playing time: 79:05

This album by the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra playing on period instruments under the direction of Aapo Hakkinen includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770-1827) complete incidental music to Goethe’s Egmont.

What distinguishes Beethoven’s Egmont are great dramatic emotion of style, tightly unified musical ideas, and an absolute determination to create a sense of the triumph of freedom as the Utopian dream of the whole of mankind. The overture, the only one of the ten numbers to be heard regularly today in the concert-hall, draws all these intentions together in concentrated form. Its meaning is revealed only in context, together with the interludes and the final musical episodes.

Evgeni Koroliov announces himself again with a recording of the Late Piano Sonatas of Beethoven (opp. 109, 110 and 111). A heavy, powerful touch is not his thing. Playing loudly where it is called for, Koroliov attempts to capture the listener’s attention in a different way, seducing one with his nuanced touch and an almost all-absorbing intensity. “If I could chose just one piece and soloist on a lonesome island, I would chose Koroliov. I would listen again and again to his recordings, dying of thirst and hunger till my last breath.” György Ligeti

The Auryn Quartet have been working with TACET for years now. And those of you who are in the know will appreciate what that means:... The challenges for a quartet formation from playing Beethoven's works mean picking up the tensions in the score and hanging on to them. The Auryn Quartet is not only equal to this task: they really seem to gain strength and fun from this field of tension. To be able to play at this level, the musicians constantly have to redefine the boundaries between respect for the other players and healthy self-interest. Playing in a quartet seems to have become a life elixir for the four Auryns: For twenty-three years now they have been rising to greater and greater heights. With the Quartets op. 18 by Beethoven they have definitely reached a peak. We await eagerly the promised continuation of their complete collection of Beethoven's Quartets. (WDR Herzeichen) There is no shortage of great and famous Beethoven Cycles, but there are no performances such as these. For me, this is now the set to beat. (Laurence Vittes)

The Spring Sonata...receives a sunlit, unhurried account that I enjoy. However, the first movement starts nearer Allegretto than the marked Allegro and the artists then move forward in the vigorous second subject, slowing down again for the exposition repeat. Oddly enough, even the Scherzo is a bit held back, with elan firmly held in check. But this gentle performance is all of a piece and Zukerman's mastery is evident throughout... [T]his sensitive performance [of the Kreutzer Sonata] has much to offer...

-- Gramophone [3/1994]

Let me say straight away that the Tokyo Quartet's set of the middle-period quartets is among the most impressive to have appeared in recent years. Although I would not necessarily recommend it in preference to the Vegh (Audivis Valois), the Talich (Calliope), or (in the case of the Rasumovsky Quartets) the Lindsay on ASV that have dominated the catalogue for so long, it is surely a set to reckon with. In terms of sheer technical perfection and ensemble it yields no ground to the Vermeer (Teldec), Orford (Delos), Alban Berg (EMI) or Guarneri (RCA). And their technical finesse, spot-on intonation and superb ensemble are all the more impressive for being at the service of the music. I started with the F major Rasumovsky, undoubtedly the greatest of the three, whose opening in the Tokyo's hands is magnificent in its breadth. They have a good feeling for the architecture and shape of each movement, and throughout the work they are fully aware of the depth of this music.

You may recall the hoary adage comparing a translation to a woman: if it is faithful, it is not beautiful, if it is beautiful, it is unfaithful. Similarly, if a performance sets greater store by beauty than fidelity, it risks gaining the former at the cost of the latter; if it sets its sights on truth first and beauty second, it stands to gain both. The Vegh and the Talich often risk beauty of finish in their search for truth. But at its best this sumptuously but truthfully recorded new issue has both ... I like it far more than any of the rival versions that have crossed the Atlantic in recent years.

-- Robert Layton, Gramophone [3/1992]