Haydn: String Quartets Opp 42, 77 & 103

by Takacs String Quartet

Overview

The Takacs Quartet was formed in 1975 and still has one of its original members, cellist Andras Fejer. The group has had various membership changes but has, by and large, maintained a consistent style: classical and restrained, but not without warmth. Those qualities are on display on this recording of Haydn's last quartets, prefaced, unlike on an earlier recording of the same material, by the String Quartet in D minor, Op. 42. Other than that, the two recordings are recognizably by the same group, and here, one gets state-of-the-art sound from the Hyperion label (the earlier one appeared on Decca in 1989), working in a hall at the University of Colorado where the group is now based. Haydn's late-life creativity is fully on display in these works, and the Takacs Quartet does a fine job in conveying its mystery. The members don't lean into the more radical passages but let the music speak for itself. Sample the striking alternation between duple and triple meters in the Menuetto movement of the String Quartet in F major, Op. 77, No. 2; other players make more of these syncopations, but perhaps the overall line is better captured in this bewitching performance. The precision and experience of the group do not foreclose Haydn's characteristic warmth in the slow movements, and in general, this is a performance that is immediately appealing yet inspires deeper study over time. Buyers have taken to it; the album landed on classical best-seller charts in the late summer of 2022. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	09/02/2022
Label:	Hyperion
UPC:	0034571283647
Rank:	47421

Tracks

1. String Quartet in Dminor, Op. 42~Andante ed innocentemente
2. String Quartet in Dminor, Op. 42~Menuetto. Allegro - Trio
3. String Quartet in Dminor, Op. 42~Adagio e cantabile
4. String Quartet in Dminor, Op. 42~Finale. Presto
5. String Quartet in G major, Op. 77 No. 1~Allegro moderato
6. String Quartet in G major, Op. 77 No. 1~Adagio
7. String Quartet in G major, Op. 77 No. 1~Menuetto. Presto - Trio
8. String Quartet in G major, Op. 77 No. 1~Finale. Presto
9. String Quartet in F maor, Op. 77 No. 2~Allegro moderato
10. String Quartet in F maor, Op. 77 No. 2~Menuetto. Presto ma non troppo - Trio
11. String Quartet in F maor, Op. 77 No. 2~Andante
12. String Quartet in F maor, Op. 77 No. 2~Finale. Vivace assai
13. String Quartet in D minor, Op. 103~Andante grazioso
14. String Quartet in D minor, Op. 103~Menuetto (ma non troppo presto) - Trio

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Takacs String Quartet   Primary Artist,String Quartet

Technical Credits

Judith Sherman   Recording Producer
Richard Wigmore   Liner Notes
Viola Scheffel   Liner Note Translation
Thomas Cole   Illustrations
Jeanne Velonis   Post Production Assistant
Thomas Hardy   Portraits
Marie-Stella Paris   Liner Note Translation
Mike Quam   Engineer
Amanda Tipton   Photography
Franz Joseph Haydn   Composer
Todd Harris   Booklet Editor
Simon Perry   Executive Producer