2021 Grammy winning Pacifica Quartet plays Beethoven Opus 135 at 92nd Street YMCA in NYC in 2015!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1lfM5emceEPacifica is my fav string quartet. I have seen them perform live in NC half dozen times over 15 years, but only once heard them play Beethoven. They usually do more modern stuff, but I got hooked on them by their first album of Dvorak quartets.
In this video they play the second movement of the final work of Beethoven, his Opus 135: String Quartet 16, Allegretto.
He was totally deaf and very sick when he wrote it in October 1826. He died 6 only months later.
Opus 135 is hauntingly beautiful, feels as if he knows he's dying, he knows he is "Beethoven," knows what more he could do, and wishes he could continue. The wittiness and extremely advanced compositions feel like they are happening in his mind, totally effortless imagination. But he got them written on paper, without benefit of hearing. The final Beethoven quartets had a profound affect on his contemporaries, and few quartets of equal significance appeared for almost 50 years, imo
Also on utoob is the
3rd movement, Lento from this performance. Unfortunately, the 1st and 4th movements are not on utoob that I could find.
There are close mics above the quartet and on the cello, but this sound recording is from a distant room mic so you don't get the clear overtones or tonal density that is onstage. I have sat within 10 feet of them and it is an unreal experience. Their recordings are on Cedille Records out of Chicago and the CDs have excellent sound quality. PS: The first violinist and the violist are married.
Enjoy!
