In its 2012/13 season, the Hagen Quartet brought the complete Beethoven string quartets to the most prominent musical centres of the world, including New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Vienna and Salzburg. During the first half of this tour, the quartet went right away from the stage to the studio to record three of their most favourite Beethoven quartets. With Op.18/3 and Op.135, the album ranges from the very first to the last string quartet Ludwig van Beethoven wrote.

The Hagen Quartet came into being in 1981, soon achieving success in a number of competitions and signing an exclusive recording contract with DG, which over the course of a 20-year relationship produced 45 CDs. Through its long engagement with the inexhaustibly rich quartet repertoire, the Hagen Quartet has developed and retained a distinctive character, not least in its collaboration with such musicians as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, György Kurtág, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, Heinrich Schiff and Jörg Widmann.

In 2011 the Hagen Quartet celebrated its 30th anniversary, which was also the start of a new collaboration with the record label Myrios Classics. For the debut album Hagen Quartett 30 (MYR006), the ensemble was awarded the prestigious German ECHO Klassik award in the category 'Ensemble of the Year 2011'.