BEETHOVEN'S LATE STRING QUARTETS

I agree, as I usually do, with Detlof. I have the Alban Berg live and studio versions of the quartets, plus parts of almost all the other quartets listed. The Alban Berg has long been one of my favorite groups for their extraordinary ensemble, and I always seem to resort to their Beethoven after listening to any of the others. I don't particularly care for the Emerson versions. The Tokyo give their best interpretations in the early Beethoven quartets, as opposed to the late ones.

I am surprised nobody mentioned Talich Quartet version? Performance and sound are exceptional

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".