any doubts as to the originality, vision and coherence of Grieg's turbulent score are immediately dispelled in this revelatory performance. The Hagen Quartet approach the music with no preconceptions, bringing an astonishingly fresh, imaginative control of sonority and a subtle variety of texture to each section...This is an outstanding release in every respect.

It would be hard to imagine a finer version of the sadly neglected Grieg Quartet...What is so winning is the natural, unforced flexibility of the Hagen's playing in the Grieg, making it sound totally idiomatic...In the Brahms, Widmann's clarinet is first among equals...Above all, the performance brings out the mellow, Brahmsian warmth of this late work.