Beethoven: String Quartet op. 130, Große Fuge op. 133 (Smetana Quartet, 1965)

String Quartet No.13 in B-flat Major, op. 130

I. Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro (8:55)

II. Presto (2:05)
III. Andante con moto ma non troppo (6:31)
IV. Alla danza tedesca. Allegro assai (3:20)
V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo (6:10)
VI. Grosse Fuge in B-flat major Op. 133 (15:46)
VII. Finale. Allegro (newly composed as the finale of Op.130) (9:40)

Supraphon – Japanese Edition COCO-70434

I posted this a while ago on Meeting in Music. If you got it from there, you don't need it from here.

This is one of my desert island discs. I think the interpretation of Beethoven's op. 130 has never been surpassed. However, in all previous CD editions the sound has been marred by excessive noise reduction (I've checked them all). The Japanese edition, on which this remastering is based, is the least affected by the problem. However, there were still audible and annoying artifacts caused by the noise reduction.

With modern tools, it is now possible to eliminate the unwanted artifacts and the lack of high end that are the result of excessive noise reduction. I used Zynaptiq's Unchirp and also did some manual cleaning in Izotope RX10. In addition, I balanced the sound by re-equalization with Har-Bal and Izotope Ozone.

The performance now sounds as glorious as it deserves. Enjoy listening.