The New Budapest Quartet’s Beethoven cycle first appeared on Hyperion in the late 1980s, and is now reissued on the label’s mid-price Helios label at the cost of eight discs for the price of five. Its virtues merit serious attention among the budget-priced Beethoven quartet recordings on the market. The four musicians imbue these works with beautifully blended sonorities and a remarkable synchronicity of ensemble. Inner parts are clarified and cogently shaped but never overphrased. On occasion, the leader’s intonation runs slightly foul of the law, and some of the more difficult movements (like the fugue of the C major Op. 59 No. 3 and the Grosse Fuge) are not entirely glitch free. These, however, are small blemishes in light of the Hungarian ensemble’s overall achievement, which compares favorably with other budget contenders like the Alexander (Arte Nova) and Medici (Nimbus) Quartets. Bargain hunters also should note that the Alban Berg Quartett’s classic EMI cycle is now available in a space-saving budget box, as opposed to the Budapest/Helios reissue’s single jewel cases.
