Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Cleveland Quartet :: Beethoven: String Quartets Op.74 & 95

The series of Beethoven String Quartets recorded by the Cleveland Quartet for Telarc was the ensemble's last testament before disbanding. It also helped erase memories of the group's earlier, and far poorer, recordings of the same cycle for RCA. These performances are extremely well played, and recorded in the typical vivid Telarc manner. Interpretively, they stress the reflective element in these last "middle" quartets without slighting any other facets, and their concentration produces absorbing performances. The only complaint about this release is that, the way it is coupled, there is only 51:43 of music on the disc. That aspect of the planning could have been done more intelligently, but not any others. --Leslie Gerber