Search - Beethoven, Alban Berg Quartett :: Grosse Fuge / Quartets Op 130 & 133

A fantastic recording

PARTHO ROY | Tampa, Florida USA | 09/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"String quartets are serious music, especially those composed by their original perfector, Beethoven. Any ensemble intent on performing--and recording--a Beethoven string quartet had better treat it with the reverence it deserves (i.e., it's not Mozart's "Ein Musikalische Spass"), especially one of his late quartets and the Grosse Fuge. In this recording, the Alban Berg Quartett performs beautifully. I've heard these pieces performed many times, but never with such refreshing sensitivity and competence. It's alarming how many bad classical recordings there are out there. In particular, I remember one recording by the acclaimed pianist Claudio Arrau in which, during the famous C minor prelude of Chopin, he egregiously strikes an "accidental" accidental--a conspicuous error which was never fixed during editing! Personally, whenever I hesitate after hitting a wrong note on the piano, I feel lucky that there are better performers out there like the Alban Berg Quartett to play music properly. And you will find a shining example of such masterful Beethoven performance in this CD. It may be a difficult recording to find, but it is very much worth the effort."