Johan van Veen wrote in response to me:

>>The one particular early romantic genre not well covered at all on
>>HIP recordings are Beethoven's and Schubert's string quartets.
>
>You should look for the recordings of the Quatuor Mosaiques on
>Astree.  They have recorded op. 18, 5 & 6; as far as I know they  are
>planning to do the whole opus 18, but I don't know how far they
>have progressed.

They haven't progressed at all.  I've had the cd Johan mentions for about
three years, and nothing else of Beethoven's from their end.  The Mosaiques
have issued one Schubert string quartet disc and a Mendelssohn string
quartet disc.  Anyways, they are a superb ensemble.

>There is another recording of op. 18, by the Turner Quartet on  Harmonia
>mundi.  I haven't heard it, so I don't know how it sounds.

It sounds *great*.  Although a young group, the Turner Quartet provides
idiomatic and relatively exciting performances.

>There has also been a recording of op. 18 (why always that one?) on
>the deutsche harmonia mundi with the Smithsonian String Quartet...

This was the first period instrument recording of Beethoven string quartets
I acquired.  It's not as dynamic as the Turner's, but I like the restraint
and poetry of the performances.

Why always opus 18? Well, those are the most classical of Beethoven's
string quartets, so they are a natural starting point for Beethoven string
quartets on period instruments.

What does surprise me is how, with little exception, opus 18 is where it
stops for period instruments.  Gives me something to look forward to -
that's how I'm going to look at it.  If anyone knows the members of the
Mosaiques, please tell them to get with the program.

Don Satz
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