One of the greatest string quartets of the 20th-century, the - 100% Austrian - Alban Berg Quartett remains famous for their unsurpassable renditions of the great Viennese masters. The ensemble notably put on record the supreme Beethoven cycle twice, once in studio, once in the Wiener Konzerthaus. Enjoy large excerpts of these milestone recordings, coupled with late masterpieces of Schubert.

One of the greatest string quartets of the 20th-century, the - 100% Austrian - Alban Berg Quartett remains famous for their unsurpassable renditions of the great Viennese masters. The ensemble notably put on record the supreme Beethoven cycle twice, once in studio, once in the Wiener Konzerthaus. Enjoy large excerpts of these milestone recordings, coupled with late masterpieces of Schubert (the Trout Quintet featuring Elisabeth Leonskaja, the quintet with two cellos featuring Heinrich Schiff…)

Shortly after Beethoven's death in 1827, the 18-year-old Felix Mendelssohn composed his String Quartet in A minor. Two years later, while on tour in England, the 20-year-old Mendelssohn composed his String Quartet in E flat major. The young Mendelssohn knew and loved Beethoven's late quartets – he'd heard, played, and even analyzed them – and his.

Brahms's string quartets are among the composer's most "difficult" works, and they take a bit of effort to get to terms with. It has been said that inside them there are symphonies struggling to emerge, and to some extent one does get the feeling that Brahms was less than fully comfortable with the medium, that it provided restrictions more than opportunities and that the music is too large-scale in feel for the intimacy of chamber music.

The Alban Berg Quartet excel in 18th-century repertory and the Franz Josef Haydn found here makes up an especially excellent example of this ensemble’s playing. The music is great, too: the two late Op. 77 Quartets quartets are what I believe are the finest examples he penned in this genre.

When released in 2001, these live performances of two Dvorak quartets caught the ABQ at their best (in concert from 1999). Quartet no. 10 in particular is a miracle of supple ensemble in which the smallest nuances of tone and phrasing are uncannily shared by each musician. This reading comes as close as imaginable to a string quartet sounding like a single great musician. Compared to performances by native Czech groups, the ABQ's Dvorak is urbane, subtle, and poised. Don't expect earthiness or rustic atmosphere.

These are studio recordings, dating from 1985 and completing a series begun in the late 70s with the C-major quintet and pursued in the early 80s with the 15th quartet and the "Trout" quintet. The "Death and the Maiden" here is not to be confused with the later, live recording made by the ABQ and released in 1998 - which I haven't heard, but which received warm reviews.