This is a very impressive set, and parts of it I like a lot. The recording quality is basically very good, and combined with the technical perfection and balanced ensemble of the players themselves, you will hear every single detail of the score. And their playing certainly is impressive, and often beautiful and captivating. The only thing I don't like is that sometimes exposing every nuance of the phrasing makes them seem much too cautious, at the expense of forward momentum. This is what I hear in the Op. 127 No. 12, for example. They miss the gruff outbursts and the wit and energy that we generally associate with Beethoven, whereas a quartet like the Suske Quartet communicates that perfectly. The Alexander Quartet on the other hand, in the first and last movements, often seem a little too "precious." It seems maybe they thought that for the Late Quartets they needed to sound especially "profound," because this doesn't happen so much in the early or middle quartets. In the Op. 18 No. 3, for examply, I heard a sharply outlined, energetic, elegant, and expressive performance that I found hard to fault. So as with any set, it may not be equally satisfying from start to finish, but some of this is really fantastic. (Just not Op. 127)