Beethoven - Complete String Quartets - Vegh Quartet CD3

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Beethoven - Complete String Quartets - Vegh Quartet CD3

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A journey through Beethoven's String Quartets is one of the great experiences music has to offer us. This set, highly esteemed for nearly three decades, offers one of the better guides along that journey. The Végh Quartet, led by Hungarian master violinist and conductor Sandor Végh, plays with superlative insight into the music. Beethoven's power is as well conveyed here as his tenderness and intimacy. This Central European style of music making is particularly congenial to Beethoven, and the result is a series of superb performances that never fail the music–not even in the unfairly demanding "Grosse Fuge," played here with the wild vision it deserves.

The recording quality stands up quite well. No one performance can tell us everything we need to know about masterpieces like these, and you'll also want to have at least one other set of Beethoven Quartets for contrasting insights, like the Emerson Quartet's, which is more extroverted, somewhat less intimate, and even stronger technically. But the Végh set should also be high on your list, especially at its attractive new price. The booklet offers thorough program notes on the music but, alas, not a word about the performers. –Leslie Gerber