HAYDN: String Quartets, Vol. 2 – Op. 20, No. 4 in D major; Op. 64, No. 6 in E-flat; Op. 77, No. 1 in G major – The Amsterdam String Quartet – Channel Classics multichannel SACD CCSSA28209; 68:30 ***** [Distr. by Harmonia mundi]:
Haydn, during his long and fruitful life, wrote 68 string quartets. Those from Op.1 date from around 1758 and Op.103 from 1803, so the quartets span most of his creative career.
Op. 20 No. 4 in D is one of the “Sun” quartets and dates from 1772, called “Sun” due to the engraving on the title page of the Hummel edition of 1779 of a blazing midday sun. Adventurous and humorous writing is evident; the slow movement’s demanding writing for cello quite striking and superbly played by Thomas Pitt, and the minuet’s rhythms diverting.
Op. 64 dates from 1790 and Haydn took these to London playing three of them at Salomon concerts. No. 6 is in the warm key of E flat, with a cantabile first movement; the second surprises with a Sturm und Drang middle section in B flat minor, before returning to the more peaceful opening theme. Alida Schat’s playing in the trio is quite wonderful, the high strand coming as quite a surprise. The last movement in sonata-rondo form impresses with its effervescence.
Op. 77 was commissioned by Prince Franz Joseph Lobkowitz, Beethoven’s patron and the dedicatee of, among others, the Eroica. The Prince had hoped for six, but only two were forthcoming, though Op. 103 is an incomplete third of the set. In G major, the quartet’s first movement has contrasts of alternately stressed and relaxed moods; the second in E flat as is the trio of the third, is a slow movement marked by its sense of restraint. The last is a presto brimful of energy.
The Amstersdam String Quartet play with period instruments and their now characteristic warm tone, and using a little vibrato where appropriate. Ensemble is tight and it is evident the players have much experience of playing together, the quartets coming over as they should like four friends having a conversation, and the blending in chordal passages is also impressive.
Jared Sacks has produced yet another entirely natural-sounding high resolution DSD recording, a model of its kind in all layers. This is exemplary engineering, and a welcome second volume in what I hope will become an ongoing series. Superb!
— Peter Joelson
