Recommendations for Op 131

[Holden]

I've come mentions of this work quite a lot lately but with only one set of the LvB SQs (Hungarian SQ) which didn't do much for me, what recording of this work would you recommend and why?

[George]

I was blown away the first time I heard the Vegh stereo recording of this work. Their concentration and profound way with this music won me over instantly. I am a big fan of their stereo set and this work is the crown jewel of it. 

[Parsifal]

I always recommend the same slightly obscure set of Beethoven String Quartets, the Vermeer.

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These were originally released by Teldec in the late 80's.  The Vermeer quartet plays with energy, but with just the right amount old-world warmth for my taste.  As though they were being conducted by Barbirolli.  The audio is also superb.  The recording perspective is close enough to allow all of the details to be heard, distant enough not to be too strident. 

[Sean]

Holden

I've come mentions of this work quite a lot lately

That might be because it's probably Beethoven's greatest work. Can't go far wrong with the Italian Quartet recording on Philips/DG, decades old now but they get to the soul of the late quartets as few other groups do; the great slow movement can sometimes seem indulgent and reminiscing but here it's just transcendental and for me in the 80s was very eye-opening indeed.

[Mandryka]

I've come mentions of this work quite a lot lately but with only one set of the LvB SQs (Hungarian SQ) which didn't do much for me, what recording of this work would you recommend and why?

How do you like thw fugue?

For me it has to be slow enough to be timeless and mystical, but not so slow that it's just miserable and formless. And for me there's a heap of textural changes in there, you need an ensemble  which  is texturally savvy and imaginative.

More generally, another thing which always crops up with Beethoven!'s music is to do with weight and power - you know, some people like it played forcefully, with an irresistable  motion forward, even a work as late as this,  so that it comes close to being hectoring and sort of bullying. I hate that sort of thing, and it's often a real problem in the final movement.

There are some op 131s which I like, by the way. But there's no point in just listing  them if we don't share ideas about how the music should go.

[Holden]

How do you like thw fugue?

For me it has to be slow enough to be timeless and mystical, but not so slow that it's just miserable and formless. And for me there's a heap of textural changes in there, you need an ensemble  which  is texturally savvy and imaginative.

More generally, another thing which always crops up with Beethoven!'s music is to do with weight and power - you know, some people like it played forcefully, with an irresistable  motion forward, even a work as late as this,  so that it comes close to being hectoring and sort of bullying. I hate that sort of thing, and it's often a real problem in the final movement.

There are some op 131s which I like, by the way. But there's no point in just listing  them if we don't share ideas about how the music should go.

Please do list them as I am still pondering as to how I think this should sound - an Op 131 newbie as it were. Many of your choices for works are ones I like as well so what you recommend could work for me.

[Todd]

I can think of three off the top of my head:

Budapest Quartet (Sony Masterworks Heritage recording): Intense, fast, yet approaching the ideal ethereal late LvB soundworld.  The best on disc?  Can't say for sure, but the Budapest at their best cannot be beat.  A new, comprehensive Masterworks Heritage box is coming out/is out, so availability should not be an issue for a while.  All of the Budapest's four available recordings are excellent - or better. 

Prazak Quartet: Similar, but not quite as intense or fast.  Perfect blend of instruments.  Superbly played, and just the right level of refinement.

Brentano Quartet: The recording is excellent and passionate, though not as passionate as in person.  Their performance live was easily the best string quartet performance I've heard in person, and compared well to any on disc, the Budapest included.  (They even got a standing ovation for the world premiere of Wuorinen's Fourth in the same concert.) 

[Beorn]

I can't recommend but am off to listen to the only version I have: Talich. Thanks for the prompt, Holden. 

[Mandryka]

Please do list them as I am still pondering as to how I think this should sound - an Op 131 newbie as it were. Many of your choices for works are ones I like as well so what you recommend could work for me.

There are lots of good ones, but two I think you should definitely hear is The Smetana Quartet's second recording on Denon, and the Petersen Quartet's Cd.

Others are the Juilliard on Testament, which is really wild, and an oldie but goodie - the Calvet, which is wonderfully luminous. Some of the ones mentioned above I  also quite liked, especially Prazak, but they wouldn't be top choices for me.

[Tyson]

I only have the Quartetto Italiano, Talich, Takacs, Cleveland, Emerson, and Vegh recordings (from their complete sets).  I'd characterize them as such:

QI - way too smooth and old-world.  Doesn't sound so much like Beethoven as it does Mozart in a slightly gruff mood.

Emerson - too fast and too homogenous

Vegh and Talich - better than the QI, but still not quite modern sounding enough for late Beethoven for my tastes.

Takacs - really good, would be my favorite were it not for the Cleveland Quartet

Cleveland - really excellent, you can really hear the different musical threads as the separate, come together, and the parts that should shock/surprise you, really do shock/surprise you.  Part of it is because they play in a more dynamic fashion than any of the others.  Part of it is because the recording is so clear that you can distinctly hear what each instrument is doing at all times. 

[The new erato]

My take on the Italiano is exactly like yours. Their Mozart is superb, their Beethoven too Mizartian.

[George]

... too Mizartian.

Is that a typo? Did you mean too Mozartian?

[Karl Henning]

Not the only recommendation, of course:

[Karl Henning]

And this disc includes a really good October, Op.131:

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[The new erato]

Is that a typo? Did you mean too Mozartian?

;-)

Yes.

[Beorn]

Oh, I thought he meant Miles Mizart of the Mainburg Mizarts. 

[The new erato]

Oh, I thought he meant Miles Mizart of the Mainburg Mizarts. 

No I really have a theory that Carlo Mizart wrote most of the works we today attribute to Mozart.

[Beorn]

No I really have a theory that Carlo Mizart wrote most of the works we today attribute to Mozart.

[Parsifal]

Another option would be a performance by string orchestra, the best known of which is probably the Bernstein recording

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Of course, some of the intimacy of the music is lost, but it is replaced by a greater sensuousness of sound.

[Herman]

My take on the Italiano is exactly like yours. Their Mozart is superb, their Beethoven too Mizartian.

Interesting. Used to be people said the Italiano's Mozart was Beethovenian and their Beethoven was the real stuff.