Guarneri Quartet

Plays Beethoven Guarneri Quartet

Celebrating the 250th anniversary of his birth, Sony Music Entertainment presents four major reissues devoted to Ludwig van Beethoven in its series of Classical Masters.

The Guarneri Quartet, one of America's most distinguished and long-lived chamber ensembles - formed in 1964 at the Marlboro Festival - recorded their widely admired complete cycle of Beethoven's 16 String Quartets for RCA in 1969. Earlier reissues of the set have elicited praise for the Guarneris' "consistently rich string tone, tasteful phrasing, intelligence, and impeccable musicianship, all in service of the music" (ClassicsToday). And Gramophone's reviewer opined that "the Guarneris' 1960s Beethoven quartet cycle stands the test of time": interpretations that are both "elegant and buoyant, with well-chosen tempos, subtle bowing, crisp articulation, telling contrasts between staccato and legato, and a consistent sense of style".