STRING QUARTETS

If you receive a new three disc set in a proposed complete cycle of the Beethoven string quartets you tend to automatically think it to be a set containing one of the periods, either early, middle or late, of his quartet compositional career, but no, not here. Here the Cuarteto Casals adopt a totally different and fresh approach in the way that they include quartets from each period, along with a rarity, the composers own arrangement of his Piano Sonata No. 9 Op.14 No.1 for string quartet. The result is both intriguing and eye-opening, not only does it allow the listener to listen to quartets to assess Beethoven’s journey as a composer of string quartets, it also lets you sample how the Cuarteto Casals perform the various and distinct stages of the great man’s quartet writing, and thus helping you decide whether you would invest in later volumes. Coming off a highly successful concert tour in which, to celebrate their twentieth anniversary, the Cuarteto Casals performed the complete