Notes and Editorial Reviews
The op. 76 quartets are probably Haydn’s most admired and most played group of six, and yet I have never been able to find recordings that fully satisfy; arkivmusic.com currently lists about a dozen sets (plus duplicate issues), of which I have heard more than half—if not at this moment, within the past year or so... The Buchberger, playing period instruments at modern pitch, is livelier in the Allegros than the Auryn [String Quartet]—not just quicker but more vibrant, more rhythmically alive, and more varied. After hearing the Buchberger’s Allegro con spirito of op. 76/1, the Auryn’s sounds dull. In the op. 76/2 Minuet, the Buchberger is lively and gutsy; the Auryn (about 25 percent slower) is flaccid. The comparisons do not all come out
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one way, however; the opening Allegro of op. 76/2 is cleaner in the Auryn’s reading than in that by the Buchberger. The Auryn takes the Adagios of the final three quartets considerable slower than the Buchberger does, and holds the line beautifully, although the Buchberger’s tempo seems fine to me as well. In the end, I slightly prefer the Auryn in those four movements but lean the other way—often strongly—in many of the other 20. Both groups play all repeats except in Menuets da capo. The recorded sound is excellent in both sets, but I prefer Brilliant Classics’ close-up miking to the more distant Tacet sound. For me, the Auryn is playing the scores; the Buchberger is making music.
-- James H. North, FANFARE [3/2010]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Quartet for Strings in G major, Op. 76 no 1/H 3 no 75 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Buchberger String Quartet
Period: Classical
Written: 1797; Vienna, Austria
2.
Quartet for Strings in D minor, Op. 76 no 2/H 3 no 76 "Quinten" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Buchberger String Quartet
Period: Classical
Written: 1797; Vienna, Austria
3.
Quartet for Strings in D major, Op. 76 no 5/H 3 no 79 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Buchberger String Quartet
Period: Classical
Written: 1797; Vienna, Austria
4.
Quartet for Strings in C major, Op. 76 no 3/H 3 no 77 "Emperor" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Buchberger String Quartet
Period: Classical
Written: 1797; Vienna, Austria
5.
Quartet for Strings in B flat major, Op. 76 no 4/H 3 no 78 "Sunrise" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Buchberger String Quartet
Period: Classical
Written: 1797; Vienna, Austria
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