I admired the original Kuchl Quartet's Mozart in the days of LP, since when, as the Vienna Musikverein Quartet, they have had two changes of personnel: Eckhard Seifert as second violin and Heinz Koll as viola. Their high standards of musicianship and artistry remain unchanged, however, and neither of these performances will greatly disappoint. At no stage is there any striving after originality, nor is there any effort at interpretative point-making: this is unaffected and humane music-making that can take its place alongside the better accounts in the catalogue. The F major, Op. 18 No. 1, is very good indeed; the slow movement has feeling and depth, though not as much as the Vegh discover (Auvidis), and my only grumble concerns the shortness of the pause between the third and fourth movements!
There is perhaps rather more to Op. 135 than they offer us. In the slow movement I much prefer the more inward quality and depth of the Talich (Calliope) and the Vegh to the high emotional temperature at which the Vienna Musikverein pitch this music. The recordings are made in the Festsaal, Schottenstift, Vienna whose resonant acoustic might worry some collectors more than it does me. Not a first choice in either work all the same; there are no notes in English, French or German––only Japanese.'