Bartók: Complete String Quartets CD review – convincing and impressive

Heath Quartet
(Harmonia Mundi, two CDs)Bartók’s six string quartets are arguably the most important contribution to the medium after Beethoven, and they plot his evolution as a composer more completely than any other group of his works. Of course, there’s already a generous choice of outstanding cycles available on disc, ranging from recordings from the LP era, such as those by the Fine Arts and Végh quartets, to digital versions by the Takács (itself almost 20 y