BaL 17.02.18 - Haydn: String Quartet in G minor (Op 20 No 3)

[Bryn]

You mean information is lost on the airwaves?

If WiFi is involved, possibly, but most of the Internet is carried by fibre or copper, not air.

[waldo]

If WiFi is involved, possibly, but most of the Internet is carried by fibre or copper, not air.

Of course. Can you be more specific.....? What kind of loss are we talking about? We are all familiar with signal drop-outs or connection failures. Is that what you mean?

[Bryn]

Of course. Can you be more specific.....? What kind of loss are we talking about? We are all familiar with signal drop-outs or connection failures. Is that what you mean?

Not an area of expertise for me. I was just making the point that it was not necessarily a question of airwaves. How reliable the various error correction algorithms are, I am not qualified to comment.

[waldo]

Not an area of expertise for me. I was just making the point that it was not necessarily a question of airwaves. How reliable the various error correction algorithms are, I am not qualified to comment.

Good to know, anyway. I did wonder why they keep digging up my street...........

[richardfinegold]

You mean information is lost on the airwaves?

Basically yes. My internet connection can be dodgy. And we just lost the “net neutrality” issue, which means that our ISP providers can discriminate at will. Since I don’t buy their other services, such as television, they are now free to speed up or slow down what comes down the pipe in favor of giving better service to their “more important “ clients.
At any rate, back to Haydn. I am missing my Kodaly recordings of Op.20. Any other recommendations?

[rauschwerk]

The last time BaL dealt with Haydn quartets, the subject was the entire Op.33 set, and it's a mystery to me why this individual quartet has been singled out when the others in the Op.20 set are just as wonderful.

I'm very satisfied with the Mosaiques version. I have owned various Kodaly Quartet recordings but as soon as I heard the Lindsays and the Mosaiques I knew this was the real thing.

[kea]

Each individual Haydn quartet (from at least Op.9 onwards) seems to me substantial enough to deserve independent treatment; I wouldn't agree with a "library building" approach of whole opus numbers.

I started on the Mosaïques and the London Haydn Quartet, but feel like the new Chiaroscuro (in this quartet in particular) has a visionary and expressive quality that can make the other two sound a little safe.

[CallMePaul]

I agree with Rauschwerk that the whole set should have been considered. I suspect that I am not unique in that I am likely to choose a complete op20 set rather than each quartet individually. My choice is likely to be based on the set as a whole, not on just one of the 6 quartets.

Although I have sets of several Haydn quartets I only have no4 of op20 (in a mixed Haydn recital by the Lindsays) so will listen to this with interest.

[richardfinegold]

We are snowbound here. I spent a pleasant Saturday afternoon listening to the Haydn Op.76 Quartets on a Blu Ray with the Auryn Quartet. They play modern instruments with a very small but focused tone that is quite lovely and I find appropriate for Haydn.
I then dug out an old hard drive that contains the Kodaly Quartet Op. 20 and gave 1-3 a listen. Either the music of the Op.20 set is second rank compared to The later Quartets or the style of string Playing is so different that the Magic was gone. While the Kodaly plays beautifully, it’s such a heavy, lumpen type sound. Thick goulash vs bouillabaisse

[jayne lee wilson]

We are snowbound here. I spent a pleasant Saturday afternoon listening to the Haydn Op.76 Quartets on a Blu Ray with the Auryn Quartet. They play modern instruments with a very small but focused tone that is quite lovely and I find appropriate for Haydn.
I then dug out an old hard drive that contains the Kodaly Quartet Op. 20 and gave 1-3 a listen. Either the music of the Op.20 set is second rank compared to The later Quartets or the style of string Playing is so different that the Magic was gone. While the Kodaly plays beautifully, it’s such a heavy, lumpen type sound. Thick goulash vs bouillabaisse

The OP.20 Quartets are very different in style to the later sets, they do need a light, preferably HIPPs-touch in their performance.... I would strongly recommend the Chiaroscuro Quartet (which I linked to above) as a wonderful way in to unlock their secrets....

The BIS notes here should help you get an overview....

http://www.eclassical.com/shop/17115/art57/4981257-5c17ce-BIS-2158_booklet.pdf

[richardfinegold]

The OP.20 Quartets are very different in style to the later sets, they do need a light, preferably HIPPs-touch in their performance.... I would strongly recommend the Chiaroscuro Quartet (which I linked to above) as a wonderful way in to unlock their secrets....

The BIS notes here should help you get an overview....
http://www.eclassical.com/shop/17115...58_booklet.pdf

I was about to buy the Chiaroscuro Qt recordings as I had no Op.20, when I remembered that I had an old Apple laptop (80GB HD) that contained my first attempts at transferring CDs to a HD, and thus found the Kodaly. So now I will purchase the Chiaroscuro as the Kodaly really doesn’t work for me (their style works better in later Haydn and Beethoven, but still not a first choice ) and the Auryn Op.20 appears not to have been released here

[rauschwerk]

I had not realised that the Chiaroscuro Qt had recorded Op 20. I have other recordings of theirs which I like a great deal.

I feel a download coming on.... .

[waldo]

I then dug out an old hard drive that contains the Kodaly Quartet Op. 20 and gave 1-3 a listen. Either the music of the Op.20 set is second rank compared to The later Quartets or the style of string Playing is so different that the Magic was gone. While the Kodaly plays beautifully, it’s such a heavy, lumpen type sound. Thick goulash vs bouillabaisse

The Opus 20 set is top level Haydn - easily among his best. But they are different to his later stuff (even opus 33) - not quite as genial or conversational. Taken overall, I suppose they are Haydn at his most severe, his most "serious". Not always an easy or comfortable listen. They are quite hard-driven and dense throughout with contrapuntal activity. They never let up for a moment.......

I know what you mean about the Kodaly. They were highly recommended at the time, but I never understood this. I like the Kodaly in Schubert, but something went wrong with the Haydn. The sound isn't very good for one thing. It was one of those big Naxos projects, so perhaps it suffered from being rushed etc

I am not absolutely convinced by the Chiaroscuro quartet here. Fine recordings, certainly, but as with so many HIP recordings they have gone for quite a reverberant Churchy acoustic. You can heard the notes bouncing off the walls and then back across the room again. I am not sure, either, that a quartet led by a celebrated soloist ever becomes a true quartet...........But they are good. I still prefer the Mosaiques overall for sound and overall interpretation, though the recording could be a bit warmer. I also like the Salomon Quartet (a bit coarse, perhaps), as well as the Festetics (nice dry acoustic, but also coarse....)

[Beef Oven!]

I have the Quatuor Mosaiques Op.20 set, which is excellent - is it really nla?

I can see it on Amazon here. Another supplier has it as part of a 10 CD Haydn box; they say it is currently out of stock at the UK suppliers, but available to order - don't know if that meets the availability criterion for BaL!

The Quatuor Mosaiques Haydn op.20 is available as a download from Qobuz as two separate sets Vol 1 (1,5 & 6) Vol 2 (2, 3 & 4) at £6.39 each or as a complete set at £14.39.

Alpie doesn't seem to have listed it in the OP, but it is very much available.

I'll listen to this BaL and it will influence my choice. I shall buy a set, I only have the Kodaly set, which I can't seem to find at the moment. If my memory is anything to go by, I need not spend too much time looking for it.

I've a provisional shortlist of Quatuor Mosaiques, The London Haydn Quartet (the set of 1-6 available for just £8.99 as a FLAC download from Hyperion -I'm really pleased with their op.33 set that I bought on 19/04/14) and the Chiaroscuro Quartet (A bit expensive at $35.56 for both volumes)

[visualnickmos]

I think I must be the only person on earth who likes the Kodaly Quartet in Haydn, but then although I enjoy string quartets, I have a complete blind spot when it comes to recognising a rose from a thistle. Perhaps ignorance is bliss, after all!