"What the Busch Quartet brought us on Saturday was a poignant Beethoven event that cannot often be experienced in such perfection and devotion to the work. We were – which we are not often blessed with today – able to enjoy Beethoven once again as a primeval phenomenon, and there was no gap between the composer and the interpretation of his music through his representatives, an ensemble that does not know anything but cultivation of and service at the work; a straight path leads via the personalities of the interpreters directly to the master, to the personality of Beethoven." - Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, 13 February 1951
The legendary Busch Quartet returned briefly to Germany in 1951 with plans for a more comprehensive tour the following year. Alas the ill health of leader Adolf Busch led to the disbanding of the quartet later in 1951, and we are left with tapes of a handful of German radio broadcasts.
Here we present, in superb sound quality, the four Beethoven quartet broadcasts of Quartets Nos. 1, 9, 13 and 14, together with a Capriccio by Mendelssohn, all broadcast live in January and February 1951, and a rare opportunity to hear this most highly regarded ensemble in the music which defined them, unconstrained by the stops and starts of the 78rpm record. An unmissable treasure!