Beethoven Quartet Cycle I

The Early Quartets: op. 18, no. 1, 2, 3

With his first string quartets, Beethoven delivered a body of music like nothing heard before: more daring, dramatic, and virtuosic. Amateur aristocrats realized these quartets were beyond their abilities, and professional quartets soon came into existence. The first half of the set of six Opus 18 Quartets, performed in the order composed, constitute an arresting beginning to history’s greatest chamber music cycle.

For information about the preceding Inside the Quartets with David Finckel, click here.