This is the seventh and final volume in the Lindsays series devoted to the Beethoven String Quartets. The B Flat Quartet is full of extreme contrasts – both within each of its movements and between the various movements. It was the last piece he was to complete in his life. The original Grosse Fuge movement was not well received and the published asked Beethoven to write a new final movement and publish the Grosse Fuge separately. The Lindsays feel that the Allegro sixth and final movement works better immediately following the fifth Cavatina movement rather than going to the Grosse Fugue. So if you wish the SACD can be programmed to go from the end of Track 4 to Track 7, which is a repeat of the Cavatina, and the goes into Track 8 for the Finale: Allegro. Then if you wish you can return to Track 6 for the Grosse Fugue.
This is a complex and rather strange work that repays close study and repeated listening. The crystalline sonics and beautifully playing of the Lindsays makes this a pleasure. While not multichannel, I found Dolby ProLogic II created a realistic sense of the quartet playing in a medium-sized hall. Other may prefer the undoctored straight feed of the two-channel SACD.
– John Sunier
