Haydn: String Quartets, Vol. 4 / Leipzig String Quartet

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HAYDN String Quartets: op. 20/2, 4, 6 • Leipzig Qrt • MDG 307 1706-2 (70:11) I was greatly impressed with the Leipzig String Quartet’s complete...


HAYDN String Quartets: op. 20/2, 4, 6 • Leipzig Qrt • MDG 307 1706-2 (70:11)


I was greatly impressed with the Leipzig String Quartet’s complete traversals of the Schubert and the Mendelssohn quartets, but I found (in a Fanfare review not yet published at this writing) their approach to Haydn’s op. 76/2–4 not at all to my liking. My complaints centered on choices of tempo, unwelcome embellishments, and lack of “conviction.” On the current disc, as on the op. 76 disc, the order of presentation is numerically reversed (6, 4, 2 and 4, 3, 2, respectively).


In this op. 20 disc, tempos are reasonable, there are no objectionable embellishments (but there are some that I would prefer not be present), and the playing is everywhere convincing. All exposition repeats and development and recapitulation repeats are observed. A restrained vibrato is used that I find appropriate and pleasing. In a possible attempt to profit from studies of historically informed practices, occasional slight swells and attenuations are inserted, and this I find appealing. This is especially noticeable in the opening movement of No. 6. Most curious is the disregard of Haydn’s final fugal movement sempre sotto voce marking in Nos. 2 and 6. The result is a loudness that abandons the gossamer textures that are otherwise so appealing in these fugues. (S empre sotto voce appears in my Dover scores. Perhaps the Leipzig Quartet used a more recent and more authentic edition of these quartets.)


There are some very positive aspects of these performances. The second movement of the second quartet (in C), a Capriccio that begins auspiciously in C Minor and leads to a cantabile in E?-Major, is played with a sardonic C Minor and an innocent E?-Major. No. 4 in D Major is notable for its D-Minor variations of the Adagio e affettuoso second movement and for the off-beat accents in the Menuet alla Zingarese third movement. These movements profit from exceptional interpretations by the Leipzigers.


For the present disc (and the op. 76 disc), the members of the quartet are Stefan Arzberger and Tilman Büning (violins), Ivo Bauer (viola), and Matthias Moosdorf (cello). For the Schubert and Mendelssohn disc sets, the first violin was Andreas Seidel. The result of this change in leadership may be the source of my observations. Although these quartets are better served by the Auryn Quartet and by the Lindsays, there are enough unique and attractive features here for a recommendation.


FANFARE: Burton Rothleder


Product Description:

  • Release Date: September 01, 2011


  • UPC: 760623170626


  • Catalog Number: 3071706-2


  • Label: MDG


  • Number of Discs: 1


  • Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn


  • Orchestra/Ensemble: Leipzig String Quartet


  • Performer: Leipziger Streichquartett