Not for the faint-hearted
A very ---for lack of a better word--- VIRILE rendition of the "Grosse Fuge". Some may find it too strident, especially those who like the honeyed tone of Quartetto Itliano among others. But to some, like myself, the playing highly enlightening. Highlights a Beethoven more modernist than in other interpretations.
Is there merit in such relish of dissonance? Probably not, when you listen to a "mainstream" performance of Op. 130, of which that the "Fugue" was originally intended as the final movement. Sure one can argue that's perhaps why Matthias Artaria advised Beethoven to compose a new one, but one would have expected greater continuity of style... nevertheless, Hagen offers a great trip to an exciting place; who cares if it may have been ahistorical?
Is there merit in such relish of dissonance? Probably not, when you listen to a "mainstream" performance of Op. 130, of which that the "Fugue" was originally intended as the final movement. Sure one can argue that's perhaps why Matthias Artaria advised Beethoven to compose a new one, but one would have expected greater continuity of style... nevertheless, Hagen offers a great trip to an exciting place; who cares if it may have been ahistorical?