Streichquartett • String Quartet Op.130 (Originalversion Mit Großer Fuge • Original Version With Great Fugue Op. 133)

This 1984 Deutsche Grammophon release features the LaSalle Quartet performing Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 130, including the challenging Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, as its finale. The recording was part of a larger, highly regarded project by the LaSalle Quartet to record Beethoven's late quartets, which are renowned for their technical complexity and profound emotional depth. This specific iteration sought to honor the original structural integrity Beethoven intended for Op. 130 before he was pressured by his publisher to provide a different ending.

The LaSalle Quartet, founded in 1946, became synonymous with their intellectual rigor and precision in performing the Second Viennese School alongside the core classical repertoire. Their collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon in the 1970s and 1980s is widely considered a benchmark for clarity and stylistic awareness. Critics of the era praised the group for their analytical approach, which managed to balance the structural tension of Beethoven's late compositions with a polished, modern sound that avoided overly romanticized interpretations.