Ludwig van Beethoven : Late String Quartets, Op.130 - Grosse Fuge, Op.133

Album review

Beginning in 2011, the Brentano String Quartet released the late string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven in installments, making attractive pairings with the String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 127, and the String Quartet in C sharp minor, Op. 131, and in 2013 with the String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, and the String Quartet in F major, Op. 135. For this 2014 release on Aeon, the Brentano offers a pair of works that are closely connected, the String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 130, and the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, which was the original finale for Op. 130 until Beethoven was urged to publish it as an independent work and to substitute a new finale. Because these string quartets are tied by their compositional history, the album is more unified than the previous CDs, and the Brentano's rather lean and muscular interpretation of Op. 130 gives it the feeling of a long but carefully planned build-up to the Grosse Fuge, almost anticipating it as an arrival point. Throughout the string quartet, the players articulate with an edginess that suggests the latter's angularity and brusque rhythms, and the group's rather wiry string tone adds to the tension, especially in the passing dissonances that hint at the contrapuntal clashes to come in the fugue. The recorded sound is quite clear and focused, so every passage is fully audible and well balanced.

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