Belcea Quartet

Beethoven
Quartet no.8 in G, op.18/2

Beethoven
Quartet no.8 in E minor, op.59/2

Beethoven
Quartet no.14 in C sharp minor, op.131

A desperate loneliness is thrust upon the second of Beethoven’s Opus 59 ‘Razumovsky’ quartets, inducing outbursts of rage as the music tries, grippingly, to break free. Then comes Beethoven’s defining string quartet: the seminal Opus 131, an intensely personal world of feeling and the composer’s single most perfect creation. “After this, what is left to write?” asked a flabbergasted Franz Schubert.

Photography: Ronald Knapp