The Beethoven late string quartets—Nos. 12-16—represent one of the supreme, most challenging and nourishing statements in all of musical literature. When entrusted to an ensemble as experienced, selfless, and humane as the Quartetto Italiano—whose career spanned some 35 years—the rewards are considerable. Recorded between 1967 and 1969, these versions distill the very essence of these transcendent classics with unerring honesty. The String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, with its visionary “Molto adagio” centerpiece, receives especially searching treatment. Also entitled Heiliger Dankgesang (or “Song of Thanksgiving”), it references Beethoven’s recent recovery from a serious illness. And the wonderfully vivid, muscular playing of the “Grosse Fuge”—the original finale for the String Quartet No. 13 in B-Flat, Op. 130, which was subsequently replaced by a less challenging movement—makes a thrilling conclusion to a consistently illuminating set that has been much-loved down the years and has impressively stood the test of time.