Beethoven Op.132

The debut disc of the Voxpopuli Quartet incorporates the best from the repertoire of the Mozart and Beethoven series. Mozart's Adagio & Fugue, inspired by the writing of Bach who greatly impressed the composer, comes in a slow and solemn part, followed by a fiery movement where the voices of the four instruments intersect in a bewildering harmony. Beethoven’s Op 132 Quartet, written when he had just seen death up close, is a declaration of war on destiny, a war Beethoven knows is lost in advance. The second movement, a monument to classical music, is a long tribute to the hypnotic and overwhelming “healing gods”.

The ensemble's latest recording of Mozart string quartets left critics agog: "I doubt that these particular works have ever been recorded with such astonishing command as by the Hagen Quartett. The players' corporate intonation is almost impossibly true . . . A disc whose rare brand of perfectionism is rather special." (CD review by Julian Haylock, The Strad)

The Tokyo Quartet became one of the most prominent string quartets in the world and continues a reputation for insightful interpretations.

The Quatuor Ébène timed this round-the-world Beethoven cycle to coincide with Beethoven's 250th birthday in 2020, beginning a worldwide tour and fortunately completing it before the outbreak of the pandemic in that year. The cycle was recorded in Philadelphia, Vienna, Tokyo, São Paolo, Melbourne, Nairobi, and finally Paris. CD buyers get a combination of travelogue and set of work descriptions, but it's not clear that the performances were influenced in any way by the globetrotting. This is, however, a very strong Beethoven set, with full-blooded performances perhaps unexpected from a group that made its name with French quartet music.

The Calidore Quartet begin their new cycle of Beethoven's complete String Quartets with the Late Quartets, a 3-volume set of Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132, 133 & 135. Performances of the Calidore String Quartet are renowned for their "deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct" (New York Times). Their unique "balance of intellect and expression" (Los Angeles Times) is complemented by the feeling that "four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one" (Washington Post).

Beethoven's String Quartets are well known for their inventiveness. The mold of the string quartet form, established by Haydn, was shattered by Beethoven's profound expression and expansion of the "rules." Between 1999 and 2003, the renowned Pražák Quartet recorded all of the Beethoven string quartets, and this match of program and performers is one made in heaven.