The London Haydn Quartet - Joseph Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 20 (2011)

One can never own enough recordings or hear enough performances of the Haydn string quartets. Not only did Haydn invent the quartet form, he was composing, even early in his career, at a level that no one else could even come close to matching, according to Classical Era authority, Charles Rosen. These Opus 20 'Sun Quartets' (so-called because of the drawing of a sun on the title-page of the original published edition) were among the eighteen early quartets Haydn wrote around 1770 in which he made a huge advance on what had previously been a form more like a divertimento; in so doing he more or less invented 'high classicism'. The independence of voices, harmonic relationships, tight construction and layout of movements are all here, setting the example for what to expect in string quartets ever since. And they are gloriously beautiful works.
The Pellegrini Quartet, a modern-instrument group based in Freiburg, is better known for its performances of twentieth-century works, having recorded quartets by Morton Feldman, Ferruccio Busoni, Karl Amadeus Hartmann and Artur Schnabel. Indeed, I had never heard them play anything from the classical era. But I need not have had any fear that they would play these beloved works poorly. These are astonishingly beautiful performances. Not only do they respond sensitively to the nuances of Haydn's markings -- for instance, they understand and play with subtle ear-pleasing dynamic variation the sotto voce fugal finales of several of the quartets -- they are exceedingly alert to each other with hair-trigger responses to the spontaneous, sometimes seemingly improvised playing of their mates. Their playing is never exaggerated or crudely underlined and yet their sound is satisfyingly full-blooded. They manage the tricky accents of the alla zingarese third movement of the D major quartet with just the right amount of gypsy gusto. The adagio of the G Minor Quartet -- one of my favorite Haydn movements -- is played so magically that I had to repeat it immediately after first hearing it.
The extensive booklet notes by musicologist Matthias Thiemel are models of erudition and grace. Sound on this two-disc hybrid SACD set is luscious and true, both in plain stereo and SACD format.