I appreciate the recommendations in this thread, as the piece is one of my favorite chamber works. I first became acquainted with the piece through a chamber music course in college, and the version I bought back then, a Columbia Masterworks recording of the Budapest String Quartet with David Oppenheim, has always been my favorite performance (it always seems that way, the first version you hear becomes a benchmark), although the recording is a typical bright Columbia effort. I've been looking for better recorded versions of excellent performances of this piece, generally being disappointed (the Reference Recordings version, for example--well-played and recorded but somehow didn't move me), but there are plenty of new ones to try (including a Decca reissue on vinyl I haven't opened yet, gotta try that one), thanks to you all.
