HAYDN: String Quartets, Op. 33 – London Haydn Quartet (2 CDs) Hyperion

String Quartet in E flat major ‘The Joke’ Op 33 No 2[19’48]
CD1
1
Allegro moderato[8’03]
2
Scherzo: Allegro[3’57]
3
Largo e sostenuto[4’40]
4
Presto[3’08]
String Quartet in B flat major Op 33 No 4[20’01]
5
Allegro moderato[7’46]
6
Scherzo: Allegretto[3’23]
7
Largo[4’28]
8
Presto[4’24]
String Quartet in B minor Op 33 No 1[26’57]
9
Allegro moderato[9’01]
10
Scherzo: Allegro di molto[2’40]
11
Andante[9’50]
12
Presto[5’26]
String Quartet in D major Op 33 No 6[20’20]
CD2
13
Vivace assai[7’09]
14
Scherzo: Allegro[3’09]
15
Adagio[4’38]
16
Andante[5’24]
String Quartet in G major ‘How do you do?’ Op 33 No 5[23’28]
17
Vivace assai[10’29]
18
Scherzo: Allegro[3’12]
19
Largo e cantabile[4’19]
20
Allegretto[5’28]
String Quartet in C major ‘The Bird’ Op 33 No 3[22’45]
21
Allegro moderato[10’08]
22
Scherzo: Allegretto[3’48]
23
Adagio[6’18]
24
Presto[2’31]

A fourth volume of Haydn String Quartets finds period band The London Haydn Quartet on sparkling form. Their previous recordings have been praised for the ‘glowing sound of gut strings played perfectly in tune … the ensemble’s delicacy of nuance and sensitivity to harmonic colour, treating the listener as a privileged eavesdropper’ (Gramophone).

This competitively priced set contains the six Op 33 quartets, which Haydn wrote in Esterhazy after neglecting the genre for a decade, and which immediately became popular around Europe on publication.