BEETHOVEN'S LATE STRING QUARTETS

Data, Greg did mention the Talich, which indeed give a beautiful rendering. Does anybody, besides Plsl remember the Budapest Quartet? The old one, that is and the Borodin Quartet? They are high on my list as well, but like Flex, I also generally return to the ABQ, after listening to ANY other Beethoven interpretation, be it the early or late quartets.

While the ABQ has generally been my favorite quartet, I am quite taken by the Quatuor Mosaiques. After following the scores to their recordings, it's hard to go back.

Budapest SQ for a complete live set.
Hungarian SQ for a complete recorded set.
Capet and Busch for "historical".

Flex: interesting about liking the ABSQ but not the ESQ.
Is there a particular reason. The clarity and the muscular
presentation of ESQ are more in tune with what I thought Beethoven would have wanted. I am not saying I like one over the other; in fact I like the fluidness of the ABSQ's interpretation.

Busch Quartet...no other comes close...of course you need to put up with Mono sound...the performances are nothing short of magic!