This is billed as Vol. 5 of a complete cycle of Beethoven’s quartets, and leaves me keen to hear further instalments. The performances are alert, sensitive, and full of vitality, and the San Francisco-based Alexander Quartet score over nearly all their rivals by playing Op. 59 No. 2 complete, including the first movement’s long second repeat.
There are a few blemishes, however. The recording, vivid and with plenty of impact, is just a touch edgy, making it difficult for the players to create a sense of mystery (No. 3’s Introduction), or serenity (Adagio of No. 2). There are a few very minor imperfections of intonation and ensemble, which didn’t trouble me much. More worringly, there’s a habit, frequent enough in some movements to become a slightly annoying mannerism, of pausing on the bar-line to emphasize a sudden piano or unexpected harmonic twist. And, just occasionally, most noticeably in the finale of No. 3, the playing, for all its buoyancy, and despite the lively tempos, lacks the feeling of momentum that’s so striking on the recent Emerson Quartet recordings.
The Quartetto Italiano (on a ten-disc set) would still be my first budget Beethoven choice, for their wonderful sound and strong interpretative grasp. But if you just want these two works, or prefer a more energetic, forceful approach, the Alexander Quartet represents a real bargain.'