In Reply to: Which Haydn String Quartet(s) to start? posted by tonyptony on July 9, 2012 at 16:11:30:
Op. 76, as previously mentioned, contains some of Haydn's best quartets. Op. 20 might be a good place to start though, as they're mature, but simpler works. You could then follow the Op. numbers up through more complexity and sophistication. Or you can pick sets randomly. ;) They are all, after 17, pretty essential (and I like the earlier ones as well), so how do you choose?Somewhat arbitrarily, I'd start with Op. 20, then 33, 54 and 55. Followed by 51, 76 and 77/103. And then the rest of them.
My favorite groups for Haydn are the Quatuor Festetics (especially Op. 64, 71-77/103) and the Lindsey Qt. (particularly Op. 20, 33, 50, and 51: the glorious "7 Last Words"). The former assemblage may be out of print, but are highly recommended if you can find them. (If you can't, you can substitute the Lindsey or Tokyo).
The Tokyo Qt. did a nice set of Op. 76 on CBS/Sony, the Quatuor Mosaiques are very good in Op. 20, the Panocha are wonderful in Op. 54/55, and the Tatrai are excellent in Op. 17 and everything before that (I haven't heard their later Haydn recordings).
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Follow Ups
- RE: Which Haydn String Quartet(s) to start? - classfolkphile 07/11/1223:54:55 07/11/12 (0)