The London Haydn Quartet - Haydn: String Quartets Op 76 (2021) [CD-Rip]

The London Haydn Quartet's Haydn string quartet cycle has a distinct sound due to its historical orientation, with gut strings and period bows lending a hard edge. For too many listeners, that will be the end of the discussion, yea or nay. That's too bad, for as with any other body of work, the London Haydn Quartet's readings vary in quality. Some of the earlier volumes in the series had a flatness of affect,that lost Haydn's crucial element of humor, but the cycle has gotten stronger as it has proceeded, and with this set of the Op. 76 quartets, it hits a high note. Despite the presence of the familiar Austrian Hymn in the String Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 ("Emperor"), these are rather radical works, with big, unusual gestures that grab the attention of a crowd and in many ways look forward to Beethoven. The Austrian Hymn variations in that quartet are taken at quite a slow tempo, which in an earlier quartet might have tended to collapse but here stands up well to the big outer movements. The large slow introductions in several of the quartets fare well here, and the minuets, which often approach the Beethovenian scherzo, have a nice tension highlighting their structural innovations. The quartets are performed from period London and Viennese editions, although the difference this makes is not explored in the notes. Hyperion's sound engineering is disappointing; although Potton Hall is a wonderful venue in many recordings, here, the quartet is miked too close, and the result is a rather harsh sound with little resemblance to what Haydn's audiences would have heard. Overall, this release will whet the appetite for what will presumably be a final entry in the London Haydn Quartet's cycle. ~ James Manheim