Search - Haydn, Quatuor Festetics :: Haydn: Six String Quartets, Op. 50

This two-CD set, Volume 6 in the Festetics' recording of the complete Haydn Quartets, is a total delight. Like Mozart's last three quartets, these are known as "the Prussian Quartets," being dedicated to the same cello-playing King of Prussia. Naturally, they have prominent cello parts, but in these quartets, Haydn employs all four voices more evenly and conversationally than before; the structure is more expansive, the treatment of thematic material freer and bolder. The music bursts with melodic and rhythmic inventiveness, harmonic surprises, humor, contrasts of texture, mood, and expression. Only No. 6, known as "the Frog" because of the string-crossing sound effect in the Finale, is among the "30 Celebrated Quartets." Only No. 4 is in a minor key; it is the most intense and dramatic, with a sudden burst of sunshine in a major key--the finale is a somber fugue. Several slow movements are variations, with Haydn's characteristically magical alternation between major and minor. The Minuets chuckle with quirky syncopations. The playing could not be better. Using period instruments tuned a half-step down, the Festetics combine authenticity with warm humanity. Their tone is clear and pure but velvety and full-blooded, enhanced by a variable, expressive vibrato. Their style has a courtly elegance, their tempos are judicious and flexible, their phrasing is natural, the fast movements sparkle brilliantly, the slow ones are meltingly beautiful. One tiny quibble: taking all repeats seems more "authentic" than practical; it weakens the climaxes in the development sections and feels redundant in the da capos. The booklet carries lots of information about the music but not a word about the performers. --Edith Eisler