The world doesn’t need yet another recording of Beethoven’s string quartets, you might argue, but this terrific cycle from the Elias String Quartet demonstrates how fresh, probing and confrontational a new account can be. The complete set was recorded live at the Wigmore Hall four years ago and is being released in tantalisingly slow instalments. Volume 4 covers early, middle and late-period Beethoven and the Elias distil the special energy of each: Op 18, No 2 is assertive and coltish, a dance of bright, volatile exchanges; Op 59, No 1, first of the Razumovsky quartets, is confident, glowing, exploratory, while the mighty opening chords of Op 127, first of the late quartets, are a statement of intent for an interpretation of huge emotion, thought and vulnerability. It’s exciting playing, and a reminder of how the Elias players put every bit of themselves into their performances.
