Leonard Bernstein’s recording of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 131 with the Vienna Philharmonic stands out for its strong sense of contrast. In the central variation movement, Bernstein adopts a notably slower tempo, creating an intense and focused expressive atmosphere, while the faster movements gain added bite and momentum. The Vienna Philharmonic strings bring their renowned sound and character to the performance, making this a distinctive and highly engaging interpretation. For the first time, this recording has been remastered and cut from the original 1-inch 8-track tapes.

Bernstein dedicated this recording to the memory of his wife, Felicia Montealegre Bernstein.

The audiophile vinyl series The Original Source presents outstanding recordings from the 1970s in a whole new sound quality. For this, the renowned Emil Berliner Studios have remastered and cut the original four- and eight-track tapes in 100% analog quality (AAA) using technologies developed specifically to produce the series. The sonic differences to the original releases are considerable: greater clarity, more subtleties and improvements in frequency response, while at the same time less background noise, distortion and compression allow for an audiophile listening experience like never before.

On 180g vinyl records and in a deluxe gatefold edition with original covers and lyrics, the copies of this series are released limited and numbered, accompanied by additional photos and facsimiles of the recording logs and tape boxes.

Release date: 5 June 2026

Tracklist:

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131

Side A
1. I. Adagio, ma non troppo e molto espressivo
2. II. Allegro molto vivace
3. III. Allegro moderato –
4. IV. Andante, ma non troppo e molto cantabile

Side B
1. V. Presto – Molto poco adagio –
2. VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante –
3. VII. Allegro