BEETHOVEN. String Quartets Op 18, No 2, Op 59, Nos 2 and 3, Op 74 and Op 132

Cuarteto Casals

Harmonia Mundi HMM902403

I missed the Spanish quartet's first Beethoven volume - a serious mistake if ir's as good as this one. Their third Razumovsky may be too abrasive for some tastes, but in general their stile, with its wide dynamic extremes, fierce rhythms and intense expressiveness, seem to me profundly Beethovenian. And as a passionate but apprehensive Busch Quartet devotee, I wasn't disappointed by their Op 132. Quite the contrary.

Daveid Cairns