The COVID lockdowns of 2020 stranded the members of the in North America, and their planned recordings in England were moved to Neva Langley Fickling Hall at Mercer University in Georgia. One piece of news from this recording and the other sessions that resulted is that this auditorium is an unsung acoustic gem, at least in the hands of the label's engineering team. The real draw, though, is the way achieves an integrated string quartet texture that does not repress his contributions as first violinist. This is always a challenge with a chamber group that features a star player, and that's the reason all-star chamber groups rarely fare really well: they just don't jell. However, there is not a bit of mismatch in these tuneful recordings, which evoke the classics by the . The , 's swan song, alternates between lyricism and a kind of rough humor, and and company are confidently on top of everything. There are more earth-shaking recordings of the , with its unheard-of Lydian-mode central slow movement, but here again, these are controlled, beautiful performances. There is, of course, absolutely no shortage of recordings of these works, but this release merits strong consideration from anybody who loves the quartets. ~ James Manheim