Late Bach and Beethoven make compelling bedfellows, particularly when linked by the medium of the string quartet; these are live performances from one of the world’s more unlikely venues, the Heimbach Hydroelectric Power Station, where Lars Vogt founded his annual festival in 1998. Thanks to its abstract qualities, The Art of Fugue has long been borrowed by diverse groups (as witness one of its most compelling interpreters, the Berlin Saxophone Quartet), of which the string quartet is one of the more natural media. The quartet, made up of siblings Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff, plus violinist Antje Weithaas and viola player Rachel Roberts, perform its central Contrapunctus XI, a virtuoso four-part fugue on no fewer than three subjects, with spareness and intensity.

It is followed, very naturally, by Beethoven’s Op 132 Quartet. They take less time over the opening than the Takács but have a refined intensity that is akin to that of the Hagen. You’re acutely aware that this is a quartet of individuals, each player highly responsive to the others, conveying the rhythmic tensions of the second movement and the Alla Marcia to great effect. But it’s in the slow movement that the heart of this work lies, its ‘Hymn of Thanksgiving’ represented by its archaic opening material (which links back in mood to the Bach). No modern-day quartet can quite touch the Takács here in its sustained intensity offset by an almost frolicsome joie de vivre as the D major central section reaffirms the potency of the life force, but the contrast between austerity and warmth is very well conveyed here, as is the incessant propulsion of the finale. The applause comes as something of a shock, so quiet have the audience been.

We end with early Beethoven, the First Cello Sonata, played by Gustav Rivinius and the teenage phenomenon Aaron Pilsan. It’s high on adrenalin and more of a partnership of equals than the Li-Wei Qin/Albert Tiu duo (reviewed below), even if Qin does possess the more innately beautiful tone. I particularly like the way they go for the finale, which isn’t in any way brash but conveys absolutely the bold energy of Beethoven’s music at this time.