For almost four decades, from 1970 to 2008, the Viennese Alban Berg Quartet was one of the most successful string quartets in the world. From their first recordings in 1974 on, the ensemble frequently found themselve in the spotlight, receiving exuberant praise and winning multiple awards. The reason for their worldwide success lay both in their outstanding virtuosity and their unerring ability to perform live with the same precision and exactitude of a studio recording. Their playing influenced an entire generation of subsequent quartets and the ABQ - as they have affectionately come to be known - have long been regarded as the ne plus ultra of both Viennese classical and modern music.

This recording comes from a concert at the Schwetzingen SWR Festival on 28 April 1978. At that time, Gerhard Schulz had freshly taken over as second violinist from Klaus Mätzl and was already arrived fully settled in his new role. Both works - Beethoven and Lutos?awski - are in their own individual way, a challenge for any quartet. A challenge the ABQ mastered brilliantly.