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♦ BEETHOVEN String Quartets: No. 12 in Eb, op. 127; No. 13 in Bb, op. 130 (2 versions, with original and alternate endings); No. 14 in c#, op. 131; No. 15 in a, op. 132; No. 16 in F, op. 135 »Arianna Str Qrt * CENTAUR 4014-4017 (232:42) Reviewed from a WAV download: 44.1 kHz/16-bit
To the recently fallen-from-grace Dover Quartet I say, "If you're paying attention, tliis is now the second complete set of Beethoven's late string quartets to reach me hi as many months hi which the Grosse Fuge is performed hi its proper place as the Quartet's finale."
Doing the right thing is expected; it should be the norm. It's a shame, really, that in tliis day and age, when right is done with respect to the Grosse Fuge, as it is here, we still need to acknowledge and commend it. But sadly, as long as there are ensembles expected to know better, but that apparently don't, and that disgrace themselves by persisting m a discredited practice, we shall have to continue taking our hats off to those who do right by Beethoven and the Grosse Fuge.
As I've argued to the point of exhaustion, you can't dismiss the Grosse Fuge just because it's a tough nut to crack and you find it too taxing to listen to. This isn't some inconsequential disagreement about an ensemble's interpretation of a tempo or dynamic marking. It's about the organic unity and integrity of one of the most important works hi the history of Western music. It's no different than the introduction to the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in which he recaps, fragmentarily, the opening motifs from each of the preceding movements. He's telling us that the fi- nale's shout of "Freude!" can only come from a journey through tire symphony's first three movements. Hie Grosse Fuge is that same shout, only without tire words, and it's the culmmation of tire motif that starts tire quartet on its journey.
Now, in an effort to make everyone happy, the Arianna String Quartet does something that is probably not unprecedented, but it does end up adding an extra fourth disc to the set. On disc two, the players perform op. 130 intact, with the Grose...