Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, Kodaly Quartet :: Haydn: 15 Famous String Quartets (Box Set)

Kodaly Quartet + Haydn = Dipped in magic!

John | New York, NY USA | 02/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Naxos has provided music lovers with inexpensive discs to all the great classics.
Their CD's of Haydn's String Quartets have been real successful. These discs are from the Kodaly Quartet, wonderful Hungarian musicians, from the late 80's to the present day. Haydn's music and the Kodaly's performances are in a class by themselves. Especially radiant are those recordings made back in 1988 and 1989. Look for the individual works, Opus 71 (1-3), Opus 74 (1-3) or Opus 76 (1-6) if you need a sampler first. These are the best versions I have ever heard. There was something truly magical in the air when the tapes were rolling back in the late 80`s. Was it because the Kodaly's were playing their favorites from Haydn, or was it catching the musicians at the right time and place, or was it the perfect engineering OR all the above. All I know for sure is that these performances are ideal. Simply dipped in magic. A highly illustrious collection."

Haydn String Quartets

John | 04/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There can be little doubt that Naxos, in publishing the output of various Hungarian chamber groups - including the Vlach, Metamorphosis, Eder - have created a rich mother-lode of musical enjoyment.I acquired the Kodaly Quartet's Haydn after being disappointed with the quality of recordings made by the Angeles Quartet. I find it profoundly irritating, having spent several thousands on audio equipment, to be expected to suffer sub-standard and "pot boiling" recordings for which there can be no technical or artistic excuse. There's far too much of it. However, in this case (and with my other Naxos CDs), the engineers in Prague have done a first class job and I consider the recordings to be excellent in every respect.The Kodaly Quartet turn in sound and well-structured performances of Haydn's gems. I cannot imagine that anyone would not derive a level of pleasure similar to my own when mining this seam of delightfully realised works. Dermot Elworthy."