Schubert - Quartets 12, 15

published: 20/01/2016

My "quick & dirty" view on Schubert : he died very young (31 years old), which is sad, because once he has break free from his deference to Beethoven, on the last years, on the very last months, even weeks, of his life, he has composed many truly amazing pieces of music.
In regards to the string quartets, the amazing ones are, no surprise, the last ones, number 12, 13, 14 and 15.

String quartet number 12 "quartettsatz" is one of these.
I'm attracted by this piece, I have possibly listened to all the versions I could.
But I always come back to my favorite one, the one I have grown with : the one performed by the Melos Quartett, in 1992 for the French label Harmonia Mundi.
It's rather fast, which gives a rare intensity, but it's not rushed, it remains fully delicate and emotional, the music is flowing. Refrained tension, immediacy.
And even though since then I have listened to so many other performances of this piece, this is still my very favorite ! Of course, as I am highly objective, my preference for this version is purely based on its artistic qualities, and has nothing to do with being accustomed to it, or with nostalgia 😉
Now that I touch this perfection, listening to other performances is a rather unsatisfying and contorted experience...

Any one has different view on the best version of this piece ? I am very eager to know if there are radically different opinions on such an indisputable matter 😉