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Wonderful Hyacinthe Jadin

Heruvo | Canada | 09/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wonderful music, especially the last and first works on the CD, Hyacinthe Jadin's quartets Op 1 No 3, and Op 2 No 1, respectively. This latter quartet is a stunning work modeled on Mozart's "Dissonant" K465 quartet that I have already discussed previously (see my review of Hyacinthe & Louis-Emmanuel Jadin: "Trois Quatuors" by Quatuor Mosaique). The Vachon quartets are also appealing and worth listening to.



It is to Hyacinthe Jadin's Op 1 No 3 that I return time and again on this CD. The opening movement in sonata form is followed by a menuet, then an adagio based on a rhythmic figure underpinning a gorgeous melody, closing with a polonaise. The unison "menuet" embedded in this quartet is most remarkable, perhaps one of the most effective movements I know in music, dazzling me every time I hear it. The two movements that follow are superb, making the whole a terrific quartet. I have now heard four of Hyacinthe Jadin's string quartets that have been recorded to date, and I am impatiently waiting for modern editions and recordings of the remaining eight quartets. I am convinced that music lost a composer of genius when he died from tuberculosis at the age of twenty-four.



A great performance by the Rasumovsky Quartet. This CD is worth all the money you pay for it, even if you were only going to listen to Hyacinthe Jadin's Op 1 No 3 "menuet". Highly recommended for all chamber music lovers."