In its mid-'70s recordings of Beethoven's late string quartets, the LaSalle Quartet often comes close to greatness, but only once does it achieve greatness. One cannot argue with the tone or intonation or the ensemble: all are as near to flawless as any quartet has ever gotten. One cannot argue with the group's intention, intensity, or interpretations: all are as close to ideal as it is possible to imagine. But Beethoven's late quartets are beyond the demands of technique or the requirements of interpretations: they are prayers turned into music, meditations by one of the most profound composers who ever lived, contemplations written at the end of his life on the infinite and eternal. And the LaSalle only touches the infinite once in all six of the quartets. Thankfully that one time was in the String Quartet in C sharp minor, perhaps the greatest string quartet ever written. In the C sharp minor, the LaSalle's performance is as numinous as the work itself. But while the LaSalle comes very close to the infinite in the B flat major quartet, there is a hairsbreadth of distance between the group and the eternal. And while in the E flat major, the F major, and the Grosse Fuge, one can almost hear the eternal in the performance, it is darkly, as though through a glass. This is well worth hearing at least once, but only the C sharp minor demands re-listening.© TiVo

These are hardly the Hagen Quartett's first recordings of Beethoven's quartets. The group made its first Beethoven recordings back in 1997 with the Fugue for String Quartet, Op. 137, and the original version of Opus 18/6 for DG's Complete Beethoven Edition. But those early recordings, while breathtakingly good, cannot compare with later recordings of Beethoven's canonical quartets, climaxing with this coupling of Opus 127 and Opus 132, except in the sense that the same excellent ensemble made all of them. The quick intelligence, pointed ensemble, lean sonority, and powerful expressivity that have characterized all of the Hagen Quartett's recordings is all once again plentifully in evidence here, but there is something more in these performances, something clearer and stronger and more luminous. The Hagen has always responded forcefully to challenges -- recall its earlier Janácek and Webern recordings -- and here the challenges are immensely high. To falter in the empyrean realms of Beethoven's late quartets -- as the Budapest, Guarneri, and Emerson quartets know -- is to fumble badly. But the Hagen Quartett willingly goes with Beethoven's music down into the profoundest depths of humanity in the Adagio, ma non troppo e molto cantabile of Opus 127 and up into the celestial heights of spirituality of the "Heiliger Dankgesang" of Opus 132. And they do it by being entirely themselves. The clarity of intelligence, the lucidity of ensemble, the transparency of sonority, and, finally, the intensity of expression are what make these performances so wholly and uniquely the work of the Hagen Quartett. These are surely the best recordings of the works since the Alban Berg Quartet's second recordings and among the very best recordings of the work ever made, standing alongside those of the the Berg, the Végh, and the Italiano. Deutsche Grammophon's sound is vivid and translucent.© TiVo

The award-winning duo ensemble formed by Christian Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt are returning to the masterworks of European chamber music with this new album that includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770-1827) three violin sonatas from Op. 30. The expressive and intimate chamber music recordings by the star duo have gathered numerous awards and their previous album also received an ECHO-Klassik award in 2017. Beethoven wrote his three Violin Sonatas, Op. 30 in 1801 and 1802. They are relatively early works but already pointing towards the direction of Beethoven’s revolutionary 3rd Symphony, "Eroica", which was completed in 1803. Although the influence of Haydn is still visible, in these Sonatas Beethoven created movements in all the sonatas that are completely untypical and that had never existed before in this way. No wonder that these delightful works belong to the artists’ favourite works by the great composer. © Ondine

New album of Beethoven’s late String Quartets by the prestigious Tetzlaff Quartett offers a fitting tribute to Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year. These monumental works which are given fresh interpretations by the quartet are among the greatest achievements in the history of Western art music written by a composer who had already largely lost contact with the world. When writing his final String Quartets (Op. 127–135) Beethoven was becoming increasingly ill and understood that he would never be able to recover fully. Beethoven had just completed his 9th Symphony when he received a commission to write string quartets. What resulted was a string of totally unique masterpieces highly individual in their language and unusual in their form. String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 is a work in 5 movements with movements Nos. 1, 3, and 5 being the central bearers of meaning. The quartet’s hub and pivot is the middle part of the work, Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lidischen Tonart ("Holy Song of Thanksgiving of a Convalescent to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode"). The biographical context of this title is obvious and specifically refers to the severe bout of illness experienced by Beethoven from the middle of April to the beginning of May 1825. The Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 is a work that has fascinated listeners for two centuries. Originally, String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130 and Grosse Fuge Op. 133 were part of one and same work. Beethoven had written the Fuge as the final movement for the String Quartet, but his publisher urged him to write a new ending. For this album, Tetzlaff Quartett performs the String Quartet Op. 130 together with the Grosse Fuge, thus bringing the work back to its original form. Praised by "The New York Times" for its “dramatic, energetic playing of clean intensity”, the Tetzlaff Quartett is one of today’s leading string quartets. Alongside their successful individual careers, Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff, Hanna Weinmeister and Elisabeth Kufferath have met since 1994 to perform several times each season in concerts that regularly receive great critical acclaim. They are frequent guests at international festivals such as the Berliner Festwochen, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Bremen Musikfest. Other recent highlights include performances at Kölner Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin and Paris’ Auditorium du Louvre, as well as a North America tour with concerts at Carnegie Hall, in San Francisco and Vancouver. The quartet has also performed at Brussels’ BOZAR, Wiener Musikverein, Herkulessaal München, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. © Ondine

There is absolutely no shortage of Beethoven string quartet recordings, and a new set by the promisingly awarded but not terribly well-known Calidore String Quartet may not stir up much interest. Furthermore, the group plunges in with the late quartets for its opening volume; many quartets wait until well into mid-career to take on these profound works, but anyone giving this set a miss will be deprived of an extraordinary chamber music experience. The players have clearly thought through every phrase of the music, with electric results. Sometimes it is a matter of sheer clarity. Consider the difficult Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, all too often a mass of undifferentiated sound. Listeners may be surprised to find that the Calidore's performance is half a minute faster than average, even with the careful separation of the polyphonic lines. Beethoven's transcendent simple melodies and soaring variation sets are deeply felt; the magnificent Lydian prayer of the middle movement of the String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, is never overdone and is gripping indeed. In general, the Calidore String Quartet leans toward delicacy rather than extremity. Consider the Scherzo of the String Quartet No. 15 in F major, Op. 135, where the abrupt flat seventh unison is done in such a way that it can fade gracefully back to normalcy. Possibly those who prefer really radical versions of these works may find the Calidore a bit sedate, but there are so many wonderful moments to discover that even those listeners should hear these recordings. This is not the Calidore String Quartet's debut release, but it announces a major new presence on the chamber music scene. © James Manheim /TiVo

When it comes to French string quartets, Autumn 2021 has been notably nocturnal-flavoured. First there was the superb “round midnight” from the genre’s rockstars, Quatuor Ébène – a programme of music for after dark that paired Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit of 1976 with a quartet arrangement of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (1899), bridged by a new jazz-infused work by the quartet’s cellist-composer Raphaël Merlin. Now here’s “Not all cats are grey” from one of France’s most exciting new generation quartets, Quatuor Hanson, whose own night-themed trio of works has the Dutilleux sitting at its climax, preceded by Bartók’s String Quartet in A minor of 1917 – metaphorically representing a dark time for Europe, and studied by Dutilleux before he wrote his own quartet – and Ligeti’s String Quartet No 1 “Métamorphoses nocturnes” of 1954. Beyond having one of the smile-eliciting album titles of the year, “Not all cats are grey” also thoroughly delivers on its actual contents. If you’re wondering what the title actually refers to, it’s the fact that at night time all cats suddenly look grey on account on it being more difficult to distinguish separate colours, and that in the same way it can be all too easy to hear so-called contemporary music as all sounding the same. The Hanson’s mission is therefore to bring out the myriad of contrasts between these three major works via a multi-hued night time musical landscape representing everything from sleep, dreams and hallucination, to liveliness and intense movement; and they’ve very much achieved that aim. First thing to say is that there’s a very satisfying balance to the programme’s overall architecture, thanks to their having placed the Dutilleux and Ligeti – each a series of micro-movements heard as a single movement which organically develops an initial motivic idea – as their two-book-ends; and you’re hearing an equal degree of architecture across the interpretations themselves, on both the macro and micro level. Tone and articulation-wise, there’s just the right, brightly crystal-edged, lucid-textured sound that served them so well in their Diapason Award-winning Haydn recording of 2019. Favourite snapshots? How about the exhilarating bite, folky kick, momentum and technical precision of the Ligeti’s Vivace, capriccio; then the similar qualities they bring to the even more obviously folky strains of the following Bartók’s central Allegro molto capriccioso; the slender-toned delicacy with which they open the Bartók’s Lento, and the dramatic tautness with which its long lines then proceed; the gorgeous gossamer wisps heard in the Dutilleux’s Nocturne 2, and the nimbleness, colouristic range and sense of organic progression they bring to that entire work’s exploration of different sound effects. Essentially, I won’t be surprised if this album ends up picking up an award or two, too. © Charlotte Gardner/Qobuz

Michel Dalberto has had a unique career journey. An expert of French repertoire, exemplified with his tetralogy published on Aparté (Debussy, Fauré, Franck and Ravel), he also recorded the somewhat neglected first sonatas by Beethoven in a compilation published by Erato in the 1980s. However, he thereafter dedicated himself mainly to Schubert, saving the Appassionata, Moonlight and Opus 111 for later. This album signals the end of the wait for these iconic pieces in the year of an important anniversary for Beethoven, presenting them to the listener in chronological order. From the Pathétique to Sonata n°32, op. 111, Michel Dalberto seems determined to portray Beethoven as a classical and not a pre-romantic composer, as the musical history books are often known to do. There is a real emphasis on the thematic and motivic logic of the music here. Thus the deliberately slow tempo of the Allegretto of the Sonata n°14, op. 27 manages to deconstruct the score without totally stripping it of its substance. It’s followed by the Presto Agitato, a delirious sprint with devilish articulation which is divinely transparent despite the apprehension in the highs and lows. The formidable changes in register in Beethoven’s opus are interwoven seamlessly thanks to the narrative genius of the performer (Schubert’s influence is not too far away). Indeed, Opus 111’s first movement is remarkable. The Steinway is expectedly robust, cutting even, as the pianist creates moments of orchestral sonority and weightless playing. A result which leaves the listener awestruck. © Elsa Siffert/Qobuz

The violinist Leonidas Kavakos has many strings to his bow: an acclaimed soloist, he conducts orchestras – his first love – and is a chamber musician. This double album bears witness to the skills of this musical polymath who knows his Beethoven. He functions here both as soloist and conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which boasts over 60 musicians. In line with the practices of the composer's lifetime, this choice highlights the "egalitarian" style of the concerto's writing. While a virtuoso piece for sure, this score is more than just a pedestal for the soloist: the latter works closely with their peers, and shares every theme with them. Leonidas Kavakos gives a magisterial performance at the head of this impressive orchestra and brings forth some sumptuous nuances from the players, commanding their sustained and close attention. Heir to Viennese Classicism, Beethoven opened the way to the Concertos of Brahms or Sibelius, in which the solo violin often accompanies the orchestra with acrobatic embellishments. As agile as he was at the start of his career, the soloist doesn't perform Kreisler's famous cadence, but rather brings to life what Beethoven published for piano. This moment of complicity with the orchestra continues in camera in the Septet, Op. 20, the first score of the kind, in which the musicians sound like a small orchestra; and then finally in the 6 National Airs with Variations, Op. 105 for piano and flute (or violin ad libitum). Commissioned by a Scottish publisher when Beethoven was composing his Ninth Symphony, these miniatures for amateurs sound just as fresh as their dancing melodies. A very fine record which shows Beethoven in a less stormy light than usual. © Elsa Siffert/Qobuz

These are not new recordings by pianist Paul Lewis but rather are extracted from his complete cycle of Beethoven's sonatas, recorded over the late 2000s and released in 2009. The idea of doing a "greatest hits" for Lewis is an intriguing one, for he has always been, if not exactly an "intellectual" pianist, one who prizes detail over big drama. The plan seems to have worked. The first movement of the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight"), has, for whatever reason, amassed at this writing more than 100,000,000 streams on streaming services, with the result that a lot of people are hearing some very fine Beethoven playing. Lewis does not sentimentalize anything in this famed first movement, but it has an unusually well-controlled glassiness. Even Für Elise, WoO 59, the ultimate Beethoven chestnut, receives a thoughtful and compelling performance. One might wonder if the Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier"), is really a famous Beethoven sonata, but Lewis is second to none in clarifying the textures of this thorny work, and new listeners could do worse than to start here with the much-discussed late Beethoven. For the Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ("Pathétique"), and Piano Sonata No. 23 in F sharp minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata"), one could find stormier readings, but these are of the sort that keep the listener returning again and again to absorb all the detail. This collection easily dispels any suspicion that Harmonia Mundi was merely in search of more profits from the original set. © James Manheim /TiVo