The Végh's classic accounts of the String Quartets are in a completely different league from any of their rivals: there's no cultivation of surface polish but there's no lack of elegance and finesse. Above all, there's no attempt to glamorise their sound. In Op 18 No 1 they find the tempo giusto right at the beginning and they find more depth in the slow movement than anyone else on record. Végh himself floats the melodic line in this movement in a most imaginative way and is wonderfully supported. In the civilised exchanges that open Op18 No 2 the Végh brings alight touch to bear, and has an elegance and wit that's almost unmatched and great refinement of tone. There were complaints of the bottom-heavy recording when it appeared on LP, and it's less transparent and lifelike than more modern recordings.
The Rasumovsky set is admirable for its alertness of articulation, rhythmic grasp and flexibility and its subtle range of tone-colour. The effortlessness with which the dialogue proceeds silences criticism.
The Végh brings special insights to this inexhaustible music. The style and the quality of perception seem so remarkable and so well sustained here that any deficiencies can be overlooked.
There are lapses in tone and intonation, most of them on the part of the leader, yet what a musician he is, and what a remarkable guide to the visionary content of these quartets. Where the music demands most in such matters he's never wanting. These are neither the most 'perfect' nor the most sumptuously recorded accounts available, yet they are the deepest and most searching.
When listening to them you're conscious only of Beethoven's own voice. The transfers give a slightly firmer focus and sharper detail, though that slight bottom- heaviness still remains.

These performances rank among the finest on disc. It's a progress through the 16 quartets that grows organically in understanding and depth as it goes on, moulded in a way that always seems perfectly natural, never self-conscious.