"A hate to review other reviewers only, since I have to rate the CDs, but I can't let this pass (so I give five stars like the other reviewers). Both other reviewers give the impression that you can have a very good and representative collection of Haydn's string quartets starting from Op. 51. It's just not true. And one reviewer gives the impression that Haydn's early quartets (anything before Op. 51?) don't merit any attention. How anyone could imagine they have a representative collection of Haydn's quartets without the Op. 20 and Op. 33 sets is beyond me. The six Op. 20 quartets are works of early maturity, but they are mature works and they happen to be among my favorite, even if they don't have the depth and vision of the Op. 76 quartets. They have a wonderful quality which never reappears in quite the same way in any of his later works. And the Op. 33 quartets represent Haydn at one of his most creative and experimental moments. I love Haydn's quartets and have absolutely nothing against Op. 51 or any of the later sets. But if you like Haydn's quartets and aren't familiar with those before Op. 51, please don't be misled by these reviews and end up missing some really wonderful music."
Rock Me Amadeus
Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 08/31/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A few years ago my father got me the Angeles Quartet box set of the complete Haydn String Quartets. It took me a while to listen to and absorb all 21 discs, but after a time I decided to give it back to dad for a spin. Not a huge string quartet collector, he had a few Naxos discs of the various Haydn opuses, but nothing comprehensive. Well he quickly fell in love with the Angeles performances, and since the box took up so little space on his over-crowded CD shelves, he decided that the loan of this set might be extended indefinitely. He offered me his Naxos titles, but I declined, and thought about getting the Aeolian box on Decca/London instead. I then came across this 7CD set in DG's "Collectors Edition" series by the acclaimed Amadeus String Quartet. I purchased it along with their "Trio" title collecting opp. 76, 77 & 103, and realized ten discs of Haydn SQs as a secondary set was plenty. I had been previously impressed by Amadeus on other recordings (see my reviews of their Schubert and Brahms/Dvorak discs), and they are in top flight form on the Haydn works as well. The Angeles set offers extraordinary music for a better overall value, but if you want a lot, but not necessarily all, of the Haydn String Quartets, you can't go wrong with Amadeus."
Essential Haydn quartets
jsa | San Diego, CA United States | 07/11/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have a tendency to be a completist, however, experience tells me that typically not all of a composer's works within a certain genre are equally appealing. I don't, for example, feel compelled to have all the symphonies of Mozart, but I do have all the piano sonatas & concertos & listen to all of them, although some are more inspired than others. Even though Haydn was a genius, he was also a very prolific composer, & not everything he wrote was equally memorable. If you acquire this Haydn set which includes 18 quartets plus op. 51, along with a 3 disc set of quartets that include op 76, 77 & 103, also performed by the Amadeus Quartet on DGG, you'll find that between both sets you'll have an assortment of highly inspired quartets that are among the best that Haydn wrote. There is a ton of great chamber music here.
I'm not a Haydn expert, so I can't vouch for the performances except to say that the Amadeus Quartet (active 1947-87) was a highly regarded ensemble that recorded extensively during that time (complete Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms quartets etc). These discs were recorded between 1971-1978 & the sound is consistently fine.
This 7 cd package is one of DGG's collector editions that is usually available through an Amazon reseller for considerably less than the list price, which makes it an outstanding bargain.
Highly recommended!"
A reference performance of Haydn's Opp. 51, 54, 55, 64, 71,
Anton Zimmerling | Moscow, Russia | 07/24/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Most chamber music fans would agree that string quartet as a musical form was created by Josef Haydn, a great composer who constantly experimented with this form and wrote numerous masterpieces in it.
This CD-box set featuring the acclaimed Amadeus Quartet is probably the best complete recording of Haydn's quartets Opp. 51, 54, 55, 64, 71, 74 (written between 1787 and 1793). Haydn lovers will definitely retain selected Haydn's quartets performed by other famous groups, such as the Pro Arte Quartet [27 String Quartets 127 String Quartets 2, the Konzerthaus Quartet Wien, Quartetto Italiano [Haydn: String Quartets Op. 3, 64, 76]], Hungarian Quartet [The Hungarian String Quartet and Zoltan Szekely (Historical Recordings and Previously Unissued Public Performances, 1937-1968)] etc., but these distinguished ensembles never ventured complete recordings of Haydn's quartet cycles, while the Amadeus did it for the Deutsche Grammophone.
The recordings in the reviewed CD-box set were made between 1971 and 1978 in stereo. If you enjoy the manner of the Amadeus quartet and collect their CDs, you might want to listen to their earlier Haydn performances issued here [Amadeus Quartet: Haydn, Schubert, Brahms 1951-1957]: the mono Amadeus version of the `Seven words of our Savior on the Cross`, Op. 51, is even more direct.
The Amadeus Quartet also recorded Haydn's quartets Opp. 76, 77 & 103 [String Quartets opp. 76; 77; 103], but almost completely ignored earlier Haydn's works. This is regrettable, since for Haydn's quartets Opp. 1, 2, 9, 17, 20 & 50, there is no complete set of a comparable quality. The cycles Opp. 20 and 50 are especially great and innovative, and there are many gorgeous quartets in Opp. 9, 17 & 33 too. Probably, a reissue of the Schneider quartet Haydn edition could fill this gap, but these performances are not available on CD. Meanwhile, one may try the Hagen quartet for Haydn Op. 20 [Haydn: Sonnen-Quartette [Germany]] and the Amati Quartet for Haydn Op. 50.