In 1927, on the hundredth anniversary of Beethoven's death, French musicologist Saint-Foix drew attention to an anonymous manuscript collection of six string quartets that once belonged to publisher Domenico (III) Artaria and is now housed in the Berlin State Library. He suspected these were Beethoven's earliest youthful attempts in this genre, which he would only truly establish with Opus 18 in his early thirties. As a result, the collection was included in the Beethoven catalogue, though as a work of questionable attribution, where it still awaits further investigation today. With the world premiere recording of the Six Quartets Anh. 2, the Alla Maniera Italiana Quartet brings this chamber music shrouded in mystery back to light – in a historically informed interpretation based on careful study of the Berlin parts and an original contribution to Beethoven's forthcoming bicentennial.