OP 130; GROSSE FUGE Vertavo String Quartet Simax PSC 1265

Norway’s all-female Vertavo Quartet has waited a long time to record Beethoven. The group, formed in 1984, decided to jump in at the deep end, and taped the late Quartet in B flat two years ago, with the disc appearing now as part of the Vertavo’s 25th anniversary season. They’ve included the Grosse Fuge as well as the eventual finale, and capture well both the intellectual complexity of the former and the upbeat nature of the latter.

Extroversion is more their style than introversion, and their fluid tempo in the Cavatina will not be to everyone’s taste. The Vertavos are risk-takers, and there are moments when the first violin’s intensity results in shrillness of tone. But the disc also conveys something of the live-in-the-moment charisma that these players show in live performance. See simax.no

MICHAEL DERVAN