Ludwig van Beethoven, Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein – Streichquartett = String Quartet, Op. 131 (Original Source Series)

Leonard Bernstein and the Wiener Philharmoniker's Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 131 captures Beethoven's late C-sharp minor quartet in Dimitri Mitropoulos's version for string orchestra, turning one of the composer's most inward and searching works into something broader in scale without losing its tension. This recording also carries a personal dedication: Bernstein made it in memory of his wife, Felicia Montealegre Bernstein.

What stands out in the supplied notes is Bernstein's ear for contrast. The central variation movement is taken at a notably broad pace, sharpening the music's concentrated, almost suspended feeling, while the quicker sections gain extra bite and momentum. That approach suits the Vienna Philharmonic's string sound especially well, giving the performance both weight and movement rather than treating the score as a polite orchestral transcription.

This edition matters because it brings the recording into Deutsche Grammophon's Original Source Series, a line devoted to major 1970s recordings in new all-analog form. Here, the album has been remastered and cut for the first time from the original 1-inch 8-track tapes at Emil Berliner Studios, with no digital processing in the chain. For listeners who care about how a classic recording reaches vinyl, that production history is a real part of the appeal.

Features

• 180g, AAA, The Original Source Series, Limited Edition
• First remaster and cut from the original 1-inch 8-track tapes at Emil Berliner Studios
• Mixed by Rainer Maillard and cut by Sidney Claire Meyer
• Pressed at Optimal in Germany
• Hand-numbered deluxe gatefold with additional photos and facsimiles of recording logs and tape boxes
• Limited to 4,000 copies

Genre: Classical