on discovering Beethoven

Music Lane

It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

More precisely Beethoven's chamber music.
I asked for some suggestions for chamber music a few weeks ago and contrary to mu usual habit which would be to buy 10 discs and listen once, pick a couple as favourites and ignore the others for 6 months, I have bought just two.
A BAch and a Beethoven, but its the latter I want to post about.
I haven't ( I think) ever heard his chamber music before.
Advice from the asylum was that the late works (mmm after op. 100) were the "difficult" stuff, but as many discs here can cost $35Au and I can get Naxos for $9Au I did my typical toe in the water and bought a Naxos. Its a 1999 recording of the Kodaly 4tet doing p 135 and Op 131 (in that order. For $9 I am prepared to not like it or to find versions I prefer at a later date.
I like the 135 very much and in that I can hear that (tenuous) heritage of which Beethoven is a part, but especially the 131 takes me and grabs me and holds my attention in that suspension of disbelief way that a good movie does and I find myself lost in this music every time I play it. Even if I am looking at a magazine or book, I find the disc has finished and I haven't turned a page!
Like the essence of travel where the journey is more important than the destination, I find myself drawn back to this several times a week.
To show my age, its the kind of involvement in the music I remember (do I remember it???) from the acid days of the end of the 60s when I'd put a disc on and just kind of go with it for a whole side of an album. Maybe that sounds lame, but its that sort of engangement that I always look for.
All I need now is to find the very best version. Something with a lot of texture, perhaps verging on the too close miked (I hope that makes sense).
Any suggestions?
As ever, thanks in advance for the time and advice.

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Topic - on discovering Beethoven - dave c 14:53:51 01/26/07 (9)

What Bambi B said - Feanor 07:08:56 01/31/07 (0)

Re: on discovering Beethoven - David Aiken 22:25:01 01/27/07 (0)

Check out Opus 132 - classfolkphile 21:03:20 01/26/07 (0)

Re: on discovering Beethoven - boboli 20:51:59 01/26/07 (0)

Late Beethoven Quartets: Quartetto Italiano, Vegh Qu., Budapest Qu.: but beware of addiction ! - Bambi B 19:20:44 01/26/07 (1)

Re: Quartetto Italiano & Vegh Q. - Paul_A 19:30:09 01/28/07 (0)

Re: on discovering Beethoven - Bert_2 18:09:57 01/26/07 (0)

The journey has just begun - hesson11 15:42:05 01/26/07 (1)

The late piano sonatas. - edta 17:36:15 01/26/07 (0)

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