The Vegh's classic accounts of Opp. 74, 127 ( V4405, 6/87) and 131 and 135 ((D V4408, 6/87) have already appeared on CD. Their complete cycle will bestride eight CDs as opposed to ten LPs. Since both EMI (Alban Berg) and Philips (Quartetto Italiano) take four CDs over the late quartets, this is encouragingly competitive. The Alban Berg cycle occupies ten discs on EMI and the Melos Quartet of Stuttgart take nine on DG so that as far as complete sets go both the Vegh and the Talich (on, believe it or not, no more than seven CDs) offer better value for money. But obviously it is quality not quantity that counts. So far my preferred sets of the late quartets have been the Lindsay (LP and now on CD) and the Talich (CD), closely followed by the Quartetto Italiano. So far as the earlier sets are concerned, I would opt on CD for the Alban Berg (EMI) in Op. 18 and the Talich (Calliope) in Op. 59. And yet each time I have had occasion to report on a new set of the Op. 18 Quartets, I have always found my thoughts turning to the Vegh set. Although these 1974 recordings were never submitted for review they were freely available in the UK in the mid-1970s and I never regret having paid good money for them. They are in a completely different league from any of their rivals: there is no cultivation of surface polish though there is no lack of elegance and finesse. Above all, there is no attempt to glamorize their sound. In Op. 18 No. I they find the tempo giusto right at the beginning (quite unlike the Talich who begin cautiously and then speed up at bar 30) and they find more depth in the slow movement than anyone else on record—yes including the indispensable and incomparable Busch Quartet (EMI mono EX290306-1, 11/85). Vegh himself floats the melodic line in this movement in a most imaginative way and is wonderfully supported; the Talich, I'm afraid, sound quite prosaic here.
The Talich omit the exposition repeats in the first movements of both Op. 18 Nos. 1 and 6 which perhaps explains why they fit all six quartets on to only two CDs ( CAL9633/4, 10/87): the Vegh observe them which is why they don't. In the civilized exchanges that open the G major, Op. 18 No. 2, I felt the Talich offered us ''cautious rather than gracious discourse''. The Vegh bring an altogether lighter touch to bear and have an elegance and wit that is unmatched except, perhaps, by the Alban Berg who have if anything more elegance but less wit—and, of course, great refinement of tone. At the time of their appearance on LP, there were complaints of the bottom-heavy recording and it is less transparent and lifelike than the EMI for the Alban Berg but superior to the Talich on Calliope.
The actual layout is logical enough: Nos. 1 and 5 take one disc, Nos. 2, 3 and 4 a second while the B flat, No. 6 is coupled with the first Rasumovsky, the two remaining Op. 59 Quartets occupying the next. So all nine quartets of Opp. 18 and 59 are accommodated on four discs. The transfers give a slightly firmer focus and sharper detail though the slight bottom-heaviness of which various critics have complained still remains. A small matter for regret is that Ludwig Finscher's notes are not reproduced in the new format. Looking back I see that I wrote enthusiastically of the Vegh's Rasumovsky set on its first appearance, admiring their alertness of articulation, rhythmic grasp and flexibility and their subtle range of tone-colour. I cited the first movement of Op. 59 No. 2, admiring the variety of tone and meaning that Vegh and his colleagues find in this music, and noting that ''the effortlessness with which their dialogue proceeds silences criticism''. Playing it again this verdict still holds. Of course, there have been splendid performances since this set first appeared (most notably the Lindsay Quartet on ASV) but the Vegh bring special insights to this inexhaustible music. I cannot do better than quote from SP's first review of the late quartet box from which this Op. 132 comes: ''The style and the quality of perception seem to me so remarkable and so well sustained here … that I have not been aware of deficiencies … [There] are lapses in tone and intonation, most of them on the part of the leader … yet what a musician he is … and what a remarkable guide to the visionary content of these quartets. Where the music demands most in such matters he is never wanting.'' To sum up, though these are neither the most 'perfect' nor the most sumptuously recorded performances in the catalogue, they are the deepest and most searching. When listening to them you are conscious only of Beethoven's own voice.'