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Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) String quartet in E flat major, Op. 127 (1825) [33:43] String quartet in a minor, Op. 132 (1825) [41:16] Hagen Quartet (Lukas Hagen and Rainer Schmidt, violins; Veronika Hagen, viola and Clemens Hagen, cello) Recorded in the Schloss Mondsee in November 2003 and in Wiesloch, Palatin, Minnesängersall in March 2004. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 5705 [75:07]

When Beethoven was commissioned by Prince Galitzin in November of 1822 to compose a new set of string quartets, he was in the enviable position of having complete artistic freedom and the clout to demand any price he wished. He accepted the commission for the then whopping fee of fifty ducats per quartet and promised the first quartet would be delivered in March of the following year. The patron would have to wait far longer, as the completion of the Ninth Symphony and the Missa Solemnis took priority. In fact the quartets were not delivered until 1825. The result, however was spectacular, and the late quartets were to become Beethoven’s crowning achievement; music for the ages with little or no regard to tradition, nor with any concern about audience reaction to these most remarkable, unusual and heretofore unheard of structures and sounds. Central to both of these works are their slow movements. Longer in both cases by nearly double the lengths of their surrounding movements, Beethoven relies far more on the conveyance of a specific set of thoughts or ideas as opposed to any real dependence on form. This is especially true of the poignant Convalescent’s Holy Song of Thanksgiving to the Deity, a sincere expression of gratitude from the composer upon his recovery from a long and painful stomach disorder. The serenity and sheer beauty of this single movement is overwhelming, and to hear this fine performance would be worth the cost of the entire disc. The Hagens have been on the scene for some years now, making a fairly good sized collection of recordings. I have found it interesting however how heavily they rely on the standard repertoire in their programming, with sojourns outside the established canon being fairly rare occurrences. That aside, these are performances of supreme dedication and finesse. Given that the late Beethoven quartets are notorious for their difficulty, one would never know it to hear them played by the Hagens. Intonation and ensemble are first-rate, as one would come to expect from such a seasoned group. What I found to be most refreshing was the pacing of the works. They are never allowed to bog down in syrupy romanticism, even in the sublime Convalescent’s Thanksgiving, which could easily give way to self-indulgence. The Hagens do indulge, however in a bit of extraneous sniffing and snorting, a habit of which my extreme distaste is well known. It is however not enough to detract from this beautifully paced, flawlessly executed performance. A highly commendable release, worth some pride of place in any collection. Kevin Sutton     Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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