Irene Scopelliti wrote:

>I like very much the sound of quartetto italiano, especially in Schubert,
>does anyone think a quartet can play better those pieces?

 From what you write above I think you have very good ears!  Nothing
wrong with those choices at all.  Are you in Europe? Check out the Quatour
Danel.  They are a Belgian quartet.  I heard them doing a quartet by
Gounod.  Indifferent music but gorgeous playing.  They claim the Amadeus
Quartet as models.  If you want to compare recordings of the Beethoven
Quartets you might want to consider some of the early Budapest Quartet
re-issues.  These are recordings from the 1940s so they aren't in stereo.
But the famous quartet were in their prime and their sense of ensemble has
never been surpassed.  Some of my other favorite quartets are the Guarneri
Quartet (they have a good recording of Dvorak's "American" quartet and have
recorded the complete Beethoven) and the Yale Quartet, who did some
recording of Mozart and Beethoven on the Vanguard label.  The Beethoven
at least I have seen re-issued on CD.  If you can find recordings on the
Testament label of the Hollywood String Quartet--they are first rate!

Even though I don't own them, I can also recommend (as I did recently)
the Vegh Quartet's complete Beethoven Cycle.  They have also recorded the
Bartok quartets.  Vigorous!

My personal preference is for energy above polish.  If the level of polish
meets my minimum standards (i.e., they sound like they know what they're
doing), then I go for the energy.  Personally I find the "energy" expended
by the Emerson quartet (I own their Bartok and Beethoven cycles--make
offer!!!) to be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.  But I gotta
admire their sheer bravado at times.

Do not neglect the Juilliard String Quartet.  They have a nice set of the
6 Mozart Quartets "dedicated to Haydn." They also excelled in contemporary
literature, especially American.  They have recorded the quartets of
Elliott Carter, for example.

If you want to branch out into quintets, my choice would be to go for the
Mozart set (the Grumiaux Trio + 2 is excellent--on Philips) and the great
Schubert C Major Quintet.  There are many fine recordings.  For "authentic
instrument" treatment try L'Archibudelli; for a traditional approach try
the Casals Festival recording (Casals, Katims, Stern, et al.) as well as
the Hollywood String Quartet.  On that you get the bonus of Schoenberg's
Verklaerte Nacht in its sextet version.  (Testament CD).  Juilliard Quartet
with Bernard Greenhouse on Sony is also good but not as good as the others.
It is, however a live recording and has a certain electricity.

If you find any recordings by the Borodin Quartet where Rostislav Dubinsky
plays first fiddle, get them.  I have not yet heard the Arditti quartet but
knowledgeable souls tell me they are unsurpassed in difficult modern
repertoire.

Oh gosh, where to go? There are great quartets by Haydn (look for Budapest
Quartet here), Brahms, Schumann, Dvorak, Smetana, Shostakovich, Janacek
(the Guarneri has just done some, but you might check the Czech quartets
first), Bartok, Schoenberg, Carter...  the list goes on.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

Chris Bonds