Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 131
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Ludwig van Beethoven
Label: ASV
Magazine Review Date: 2/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 44
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: CDDCA603
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| String Quartet No. 14 |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Lindsay Quartet Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
Author: Robert Layton
This is the last of the Lindsay late Beethoven quartets to appear in single CD format and these lines are to note its appearance and reaffirm its excellence. The complete set won the Gramophone Award for chamber music in 1984, but so for that matter, did the Alban Berg Quartet the following year. In the intervening period there has been no newcomer to surpass the Lindsay, though readers with an eye on economy will need no reminder that there are alternative versions of Op. 131 offering longer playing time: the Vegh's is coupled with Op. 135 (Auvidis Valois/Pinnacle) and the Talich with Op. 59 No. 3 (Calliope/Harmonia Mundi). Only the Vermeer version (Teldec/ASV) comes on its own, as does the Alban Berg's on EMI.
There is tremendous conviction and concentration in the present performance, and as I said in discussing it on a previous occasion, ''the Lindsay always seem to find exactly the right tempo, and convey the illusion while one listens to them that this is the only way this music can be played''. Whatever the strength of rival accounts, particularly the Vegh and the Talich, readers are unlikely to find anything better than this Lindsay version for its pursuit of truth before beauty and its achievement of both.'
There is tremendous conviction and concentration in the present performance, and as I said in discussing it on a previous occasion, ''the Lindsay always seem to find exactly the right tempo, and convey the illusion while one listens to them that this is the only way this music can be played''. Whatever the strength of rival accounts, particularly the Vegh and the Talich, readers are unlikely to find anything better than this Lindsay version for its pursuit of truth before beauty and its achievement of both.'
Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 131
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.