This is, by my reckoning, the Juilliard Quartet’s third recording of Op. 130 and their fourth of Op. 135 (two previous CBS/Sony versions plus an RCA early stereo, 4/63). Pitting the lean-toned early readings against their full-bodied successors makes for a fascinating exercise in comparisons, although significant changes of personnel obviously helped facilitate the transformation.
As with the live set recorded in 1982 at the Library of Congress (listed above – the same personnel save that nowadays Joel Smirnoff replaces Earl Carlyss on second violin), the Juilliard take Op. 130’s long first-movement repeat then play the Grosse Fuge as its rightful finale, relegating the lighter-hearted ‘rewrite’ to encore status at the very end of the piece. Hearing the fugue as a structural summation rather than a disembodied torso makes good musical sense (its replacement turns most of Op. 130 into a sort of elevated divertimento) and the Juilliard’s concentration more than justifies their decision. The performance itself is full of subtle beauties, not least in the first movement, at the point near the onset of the development (around 8'29'') where Allegro fragments prompt espressivo Adagio responses and where the players gauge the music’s oscillating moods with characteristic perception. Similarly, there is a sense of infinite sadness at 5'16'' into the Andante con moto third movement, whereas the Presto and Alla danza tedesca are, by turns, fleeting and elegant; the Grosse Fuge struts, sings and swings, and the ‘second’ finale dances to a pointed staccato.
This is profound, deeply pondered music-making, the sort that would be impossible to achieve in less than half a lifetime. Op. 135 is similarly persuasive, with a playfully disruptive Vivace, a heart-rending Lento assai and, most significantly, an account of the finale that includes the important – though rarely played – second repeat (the Library of Congress performance also includes it). Sony’s recordings achieve a warm blend of voices and if this is the start of a new Beethoven quartet cycle (fingers crossed), it may well prove the most perceptive that the Juilliard have given us so far.'