Panocha Quartet - Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76 Nos. 4-6 (1990) CD-Rip

For all that there are wonderful things in the string quartets preceding this set of six in Op. 76, for me there is a new depth of profundity and invention here, marking yet another step up in Haydn's ceaselessly evolving creativity. Haydn had already composed masterpieces, some dating back thirty years before this; the quality and popularity of many of those such as the "The Joke", "The Razor" and "The Lark" are indicated by the very fact that they acquired those nicknames and in this set of six we have three undoubted chefs d'oeuvre all similarly given labels to denote their originality and appeal.
Haydn's capacity to delight and surprise is enhanced by such ease and fluency within the genre that it's easy to overlook just how skilled and versatile he is in handling "academic" compositional features such as counterpoint and fugues; what strikes is the energy and melodiousness of the music. Did he write a more deservedly celebrated tune than the stately Adagio and variations of the "Emperor" quartet? Or a sparkier, catchier menuetto than that of the "Fifths"? Or ever throw down a more distinctive calling card than the opening of the "Sunrise"? However, what is interesting in this music is how subtly and swiftly Haydn can, as in the wonderful Adagio to the "Sunrise" or the spare serenity "Fantasia" of No 6, introduce a shadow of bitter-sweet melancholy to cloud his prevailing sunniness - a feature we associate more with the greatest string quartets of Mozart and Schubert, his natural successors. So often his tone and mood are in particular indistinguishable from Mozart's mature idiom.