Haydn: String Quartets, Opp. 54 & 55

COMPOSERS: Haydn
LABELS: DG
WORKS: String Quartets, Opp. 54 & 55
PERFORMER: Amadeus Quartet
CATALOGUE NO: 437 134-2 ADD (1973/74)
No critical edition of these popular works existed in the early Seventies; hence the Amadeus Quartet cannot be held responsible for the many textual deficiencies of this otherwise excellent recording. Of course, styles of playing 18th-century music have changed radically in the past two decades, and a performance on period instruments would sound thinner, less smooth and more austere. Having said this, it would be churlish to deny that the Amadeus play with insight and considerable charm.