Beethoven Around the World: The Complete String Quartets

Recorded live in concerts on six continents, Quatuor Ébène’s performances of Beethoven’s complete string quartets fairly crackle with excitement and intensity. Whether recorded in famous shrines to classical music, such as Vienna’s Konzerthaus or Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, or slightly off the beaten track in Nairobi’s Alliance Française institution, there’s a unanimity of approach and style that makes this a considerable achievement. This is Beethoven-playing of wonderful freshness, unconcerned with fitting into some kind of tradition, and it makes for a series of encounters that emphasize the timeless originality of this extraordinary music.