More proof—and it seems it's still needed—that the best place to go hunting for neglected masterworks is amongst the works of the masters. Robert Simpson has said of the Beethoven that it could in some ways be regarded as the ''crown'' to the Op. 18 set of quartets. True, though the majestic unfolding of its opening and the astonishing textural and structural games of the so-called 'storm' finale are like nothing else in early Beethoven. As for the Mendelssohn—it has been unfavourably compared to the great Octet, but while it lacks something of the youthful work's audacious originality, it's still a compelling and richly imaginative piece, and if the finale's leading material is relatively undistinguished, Mendelssohn shows real panache in what he does with it.
Unfortunately this review can't pass without a couple of small reservations. The playing can be sensitive, even poetic, but the players do sometimes pull their punches—as just before the recapitulation in the first movement of the Beethoven, where the marked crescendo to fortissimo only gets as far as a rather half-hearted forte. The recording, too, has a hint of roughness in high frequencies—not really a problem most of the time, but in passages like the sweeping, strongly supported violin line that opens the Mendelssohn it can be slightly irritating; there's also a surprisingly cavernous reverberation after some sforzando chords. I'd still recommend it, however: on the whole these are performances of real insight, and with the Beethoven miserably represented both in the catalogue and the concert hall, one can't afford to be picky.
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