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11/15/2025
“The Complete Beethoven String Quartets”
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartets n° 1 in F major [1], n° 2 in G major [2], n° 3 in D major [3], n° 4 in C minor [4], n° 5 in A major [5] & n° 6 in B‑Flat major [6], opus 18 – String Quartets n° 7 in F major [7], n° 8 in E minor [8] & n° 9 in C major [9], “Rasumovsky”, opus 59 – String Quartet n° 10 in E‑Flat major “Harp” [10], opus 74 – String Quartet n° 11 in F minor “Serioso” [11], opus 95 – String Quartet n° 12 in E‑Flat major [12], opus 127 – String Quartet n° 13 in B‑Flat major [12], opus 130 – String Quartet n° 14 in C‑Sharp minor [12], opus 131 – Great Fugue in B‑Flat major [12], opus 133 – String Quartet n° 15 in A minor [12], opus 132 – String Quartet n° 16 in F major [12], opus 135
Calidore String Quartet: Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan (violin), Jeremy Berry (viola), Estelle Choi (cello)
Recording: Gore Recital Hall, Roselle Center for the Arts, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware (February 6‑7 [4], July 1‑2 [2], 2‑3 [10], September 15‑16 [9], 2021, February 4 [11], 4‑8 [12], June 17‑18 [8], 19‑20 [1], 20‑ [5], December 19‑20 [7], 2022, June 6 [6] & 7 [3], 2023 – 499’05
9 CDs Signum Classics SIGCD925 – Booklet in English
 
There is no greater collection of string quartets than Beethoven’s. There, I said it. Disagree, or redefine “greatness” if you like. I cannot think of a body of quartets or, indeed, any chamber music, so impactful, influential, or emotionally affecting.
Beethoven’s 16 works in this genre (plus the Great Fugue) grow the quartet form from the era of Haydn and Mozart, through the composer’s lifetime (he completed his last quartet in 1826, the year before his death), to a foreshadowing of Bartók, Shostakovich and lesser‑known moderns like Maconchy. The works have enjoyed performance throughout the last two centuries by some of the finest string ensembles, leading one to wonder, who will usher these works as a living presence into the future? Enter the Calidore String Quartet. The name, Calidore, references the group’s origins in Los Angeles as well as the French word for golden (doré). A standout young chamber group, Calidore meets the challenge of preserving yet reinterpreting the massive Beethoven legacy with a new album of both charm and profundity.
I first encountered these quartets when I was 18 and vowed to listen to them sparingly over the upcoming decades lest they lose their freshness through excessive repetition. I had my favorites, of course: the String Quartet n° 14 as well as individual movements of heart‑breaking beauty (ref: the “Cavatina": from the String Quartet n° 6 and the “Hymn of Gratitude” from the String Quartet n° 15, among others).
One of the striking characteristics of Beethoven’s work in this form is the way the quartets neatly divide into several categories, usually by opus number. The first six quartets, Opus 18, were composed in the spirit of Beethoven’s teacher, Haydn. They fall neatly and stylistically into the classical period, but with the fiery young composer’s signature flair. We move on to the “Rasumovsky” Quartets (Opus 59) which number 7‑9 in the complete quartet list. These were composed around six years later, named for the prince who commissioned them.
The final group is known as the “Late Quartets” comprising Opus 127 & 130‑133 (including the aforementioned Great Fugue), and Opus 135, the latter which has the distinction of being Beethoven’s last completed work. Calidore folds the Great Fugue into Opus 130 for a number of good reasons readers may want to explore on their own. (Calidore’s Late Quartets also were reviewed in ConcertoNet on May 9, 2023). To this add is what I call the “Orphans”: Opus 74 (the so‑called “Harp” Quartet from 1809 and Opus 95 (the “Serioso”) full of romantic passion and not played nearly often enough.
Calidore had its work cut out for them in mastering the technical hurdles, but more important, the interpretive challenges of this collection. What is singular about this performance is its clean contemporary feel, brimming with controlled enthusiasm. What I want to hear and feel in Beethoven’s quartets is a seamless sense of entity, in which all life, from the subatomic to the music of the spheres, resonates with shared energy. The Calidore Quartet provides this and becomes not a group of four players, but one single instrument incapable of dissolution.
There is much that is right, sometimes glorious (as in the Opuses 14 and 15). Bows alternately grind a gritty course or silken path across the strings. Notes swell and suddenly retreat, swimming through time and collapsing into nothingness. Imperfections when they appear are easy to ignore. For example, the openings of the three ”Rasumovsky” Quartets are a little off, especially in Quartets n° 7 & n° 9. Granted, there are some tricky volume indicators in the scores as Beethoven often swings briskly from soft to very loud and back within a few measures. I would have liked to have heard the quartets recorded more closely together, not, as in some cases, two or three years apart.
But what ultimately matters is the creation of music by high‑level performers who love what they do and present the fruits of their labor to us with deep feeling and joy.
Linda Holt
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