String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59

The second in their award-winning series, the Calidore Quartet return with a three-disc album of the Middle Quartets. Their Beethoven performances have been described as “shockingly deep” by LA Times. The first album of Late Quartets won the Chamber Music Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2024. Their interpretation is informed by their diverse set of mentors, which includes Alban Berg, Emerson and Guarneri and yet still uniquely represents the sentiments, aesthetics and research of their generation. Their interpretations of Beethoven are already critically acclaimed with performances at the Lincoln Centre planned as part of their residency.

One of the most brilliant works in the quartet literature, an exciting new composition based on it, and a virtuoso award-winning ensemble: the Aris Quartet's GENUIN album Attacca bursts with energy from the very first moment. Highly acclaimed with awards such as "Echo Rising Stars" 2019, the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and "New Generations Artists" 2018, the Aris Quartet juxtaposes Beethoven's "Russian" Quartet Op. 59, No. 1, with Gerald Resch's String Quartet No. 3. Gerald Resch's intention was to build a kind of "adjacent property" to Beethoven. The Aris Quartet vividly brings out both the connections and differences with its nuanced playing.

Enjoyable as other digital recordings of Beethoven's first quartets are, this new Tokyo set just about pips all rivals to the post. The reason is primarily one of balance, not only within the group itself but also in terms of overall musical judgement – whether relating to tempo, dynamics or emphases, or simply the way the players combine a sense of classical style with an appreciation of Beethoven's startling originality. If you're after a top-ranking digital set of Op 18, you couldn't do better.

The Juilliard String Quartet has distinguished itself as one of the longest-standing quartets in the U.S., responsible for the premieres of countless new works as well as commanding performances of the standard repertoire. Its earliest performances of Beethoven drew a substantial amount of attention for its more aggressive, in-the-string approach that did not treat Beethoven as a delicate flower as some quartets of the day had. These characteristics survived in the quartet even as its membership changed. This Medici Arts DVD samples one quartet from each of Beethoven's three main style periods, performed in 1975 at Polling in Bavaria.