“A quartet in the great tradition,” declared Stereo Review’s critic, commenting on the Cleveland Quartet’s Beethoven for RCA Victor, their exclusive label between 1972 and 1987.

Most of the ensemble’s recordings for RCA had never appeared on CD until now. Sony Classical is pleased to present this entire, critically acclaimed discography in a box set of 23 discs, remastered from the original master tapes using 24-bit/192 kHz technology. It includes original LP sleeves, labels and the booklet with full discographical notes

The complete RCA Red Seal Recordings of the Cleveland Quartet from 1972 to 1979 features the major works for string quartet in analogue recorded sound and includes collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma (in the Schubert String Quintet), Emanuel Ax (in the piano quintets of Schumann, Brahms and Dvořák), Pinchas Zukerman, Richard Stoltzman and more.

Immediately upon their debut at the 1969 Marlboro Festival, four brilliant young American musicians calling themselves the Cleveland Quartet were hailed as a chamber ensemble of exceptional quality. Over the next quarter century, they performed on every continent, including nearly 30 complete Beethoven cycles in the US and Europe. At their peak, the Cleveland Quartet gave more than 100 concerts a year. They became the first classical artists to play on the televised Grammy awards and performed at the White House for President’s Carter inauguration.

The earliest entry, first released in 1973, comprises the three Brahms quartets, idiomatic performances that Gramophone’s enthusiastic reviewer heard as “suffused with a warm and mellow light. Scrupulous attention is given to every detail and yet lyrical phrases are allowed their head. … There is no other complete set of these three works that effectively rivals this new recording.”