… The sense I get from this recording is that they have put a tremendous amount of effort into every note. Each phrase in the music is rich in possibilities for how to interpret it – different dynamics, emphasis, phrasing, sense of pace and movement. Throughout, I feel like I’m being led on a journey by someone with a phenomenal understanding of the place that I’m visiting:
“the quartet never put a foot wrong (astonishing, given that it’s a live recording), and achieve a high level of clarity….”
Both live and on this CD, the Wihan Quartet play the original last movement (later published as the Grosse Fuge, Op.133), discarding the replacement last movement which Beethoven wrote when the fugue proved too avant-garde for the audiences of the time. It’s an extraordinary work: urgent, manic, desperate… In this recording, every shift of mood and emphasis is clear, with a continuing sense of forward movement amongst the chaos….
“All in all… this CD set is an extraordinary investment: it’s music that you can listen to again and again, learning something every time under the guidance of musicians who are masters of this craft.”
It’s a thoroughly rewarding experience: just be prepared to invest a generous chunk of your time and attention to get there.
