I was wondering which set/s you prefer for Haydn's Op. 76 quartets.
I own the Buchberger set:
and while I like the intricate and sometimes witty playing of the ensemble - however, the set doesn't seem to have the needed 'punch' or thickness of sound (the Ensemble is HIP) which would be appropriate for Op. 76.
Do some of you own the Takacs set? If so, how did you like it? I was considering of looking into that one.
I'm curious to see what others who know more say about this one. I also have the Buchberger, though I'm not that familiar with it. My 'standard' ensemble for this set is the Amadeus Quartet. I am not totally convinced by it either.
that's exactly the problem I had when I listened to the samples on amazon - I think that gets in the way quite a bit. I'm re-listening to the Buchberger right now and I have to say I do admire their agile and dynamic approach. The Buchberger has been growing on me but something makes me think there's a better set out there.
The three I like the most are the old one from The Budapest Quartet which is now on spotify, The Tatrai which is now available as a download pretty cheaply, and The Carmina Quartet, which used to be cheaply available from cdjapan.co.jp
I see the Takacs is getting praise - plus it´s on for 7.50 Euros or so on amazon.com - this is enticing. Has anyone heard the Auryn set? It was getting much critical acclaim.
A set nobody's mentioned ... the Eder Quartet, OOP but easily available (used) in single CDs or the set. Definitely not HIP but full-blooded and excellently played (and well-recorded also). Here's the whole set.
I've been listening to Kodaly complete set as my 'canon'. But then also listen to Talich String Quartet on Haydn, which I love. On the op. 76 I see several other choices, and when checked on youtube, they are very fine.
I have complete sets of Op.76 by the Tatrai, the Kodaly and a very recent acquisition by the Tokyo. Have only heard 2 of the six by the Tokyo so far.
I also have some individual Op.76 quartets by 5 other string quartets. Am unable to select on favorite interpretation at this time.
It would require some in depth listening to pick one.
In case you don't know, the Haydn Project 2-discer by the Emersons contains a fine version of the fifths quartet from opus 76, as well as a sampling from other opus numbers. I quite like this set, especially for the tempo choices.
Thought a comparison between 4 versions of one Haydn Op.76 quartet would prove interesting. I therefore played Op.76/5 by the Kodaly Quartet (1989), Tokyo String Quartet (1978 or 1979), Tatrai Quartet (1964), and finally by Engegardkvartetten (2007).
As you can see there was a significant time span between each of the recordings.
If any of the four versions had been played apart from a comparison with another version I would have found it very enjoyable.
But playing each of the 4 versions right after one another, favorites (to me ) showed up. It was a close call between the Kodaly Quartet and the Tatrai Quartet for which one I would place at the top. But if forced to choose I would go with the Tatrai Quartet.
Though perhaps on a different day I would pick the Kodaly Quartet.
On this particular Haydn Quartet the Tokyo and the Engegardkvartetten were less satisfying. The factors that most strongly influenced my opinion were the blending and balance of the four strings, the tempo for each movement, the sense I had of the emotional involvement of the musicians ( a highly subjective judgement), and the audio quality of the recording.
On this last point, it was quite a surprise to me to find that the audio quality of the 1964 Tatrai recording sounded so good.
Of course it is important to make clear that I only compared one Op.76 quartet and I have complete sets of Op.76 by the Tokyo, Kodaly and Tatrai Quartets, and the results might have been different if other Op.76 quartets had been compared.
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