HAYDN: 3 String Quartets Op. 55 (Volume 9) – Auryn Quartet – Tacet

by | Jun 26, 2010 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

HAYDN: 3 String Quartets Op. 55 (Volume 9) – Auryn Quartet – Tacet 184, 70:37 [Distr. by Naxos] *****:
The Auryn Quartet’s Haydn has been well-served in these pages by me and others, and anyone wanting a review need only do a search on this site (“Auryn Haydn”) to find that every single one of them has received five stars. This comes as no surprise for those who have heard this series, for it is one of the most engaging ever recorded, always in nothing less that super sound, and leads the pack as far as I am concerned in the complete Haydn quartet sweepstakes.
The three quartets of Op. 55 are a pairing with Op. 54 as Haydn submitted them together even though they were assigned separate opus numbers. As such there is a consistency of form and standards among the two sets, very high, and spotlighting the particular cantabile nature of these pieces that Haydn indulged in during this time. While the Op. 54 seemed to emphasize sharp keys, this one concentrates on the flats, and also gives us a unique experience with the F minor quartet, surnamed “Razor” because of an apocryphal story that is worth repeating. Apparently the English publisher John Bland was visiting Haydn and appeared while he was shaving; Haydn is said to have offered his best quartet for a pair of good English razors when Bland ran back to his hotel and fetched his own kit for the Master. Haydn was so happy that he presented Bland with his F minor quartet. In fact Bland did give Haydn a razor but sent it by mail from London, for which he got a nice reply in response. But who knows, maybe there is more to the story then we know, but any attempts to ascribe “razor like” invention to this wonderfully inventive quartet, one of his best if such words can be applied rationally to Haydn’s always great quartet efforts, whose opening dual variations so qualify the “sturm und drang” aspects of this work.
The other two pieces are more lightweight though no less interesting, the A-major a first-violin barnburner while the B-flat is much quieter and more intimate of scale. But no matter which you are listening to it is a fact that the performances are as good as you are going to hear, while Tacet’s sound, regular though it is on this CD (others give us surround) is excellent. File this one next to all the others, and buy with absolute confidence.
— Steven Ritter