Beethoven: String Quartet Op 59 No 2 & Op 18 No 4 / Artemis String Quartet - Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Performers: Natalia Prischepenko (Violin), Eckart Runge (Cello), Gregor Sigl (Violin), Friedemann Weigle (Viola), Orchestra/Ensemble: Artemis String Quartet, This Beethoven CD, only their second since 2005, comes off as Emerson lite. Which is no bad thing - the Artemis have kept a fresh, buoyant approach to Op. 18 No. 4 without driving it too hard. Rubato is allowed; phrasing is often yielding and thoughtful. I'm reminded more of Haydn than the Beethoven that is to come, but that's fine in it's chaste way. Ensemble is exemplary, and the sound of each instrument is very pleasing as it blends into the whole. The only drawback, perhaps, is a certain superficiality in the pursuit of elegance. Far more telling is the 'Razumovsky' Op. 59 No. 2, a hallmark of Beethoven's heroic middle period. The advance beyond Op. 18 is enormous, and the playing should reflect that. He is where the Emersons were strikingly modern and propulsive, and where, at the opposite extreme, the Alban Berg were at their most intensely expressive. The Artemis aren't as distinctive, but they exhibit plenty of musicality and virtuosic technique. Perfect intonation and ensemble go a long way; those are the first things you notice, before any interpretive insights.