Beethoven: The Late String Quartets Alban Berg Quartet

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If you don't already have any recordings of Beethoven's late string quartets, by all means get this one by the Alban Berg Quartet. There hasn't been a set to equal it since it was originally released in a different configuration in the early '90s -- the Emerson's overly enthusiastic but not especially insightful set? oh, come on! -- and there hadn't been many to equal it before the '90s, only the Quartetto Italiano's wonderfully balanced and incredibly lovely set, the Quatuor Végh's supremely intense and transcendentally sublime set, and the Berg's own earlier, extremely concentrated and austerely passionate set. And even the Italiano, the Végh, and the earlier Berg could only equal what the latter Berg achieves in this set. Recorded live in Vienna in 1989, the second Berg set is even more concentrated -- listen to the Fugue that opens the C sharp minor quartet -- and even more passionate -- listen to the Cavatina at the center of the B flat major quartet. Better yet, the tone is more beautiful -- listen to the Lento assai e cantante tranquillo in the F major quartet. And, best of all, the interpretations are more luminous -- listen to the coda of the Molto adagio of the A minor quartet. While you can never have too many great recordings of Beethoven's late quartets, if you can only have one, get this one. EMI's live digital sound is a bit close, but palpably real. ~ James Leonard, Rovi All Music Guide

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